Fire for Effect
by McJunker
Summary: The war has been going on now for 70 years with no end in sight. One young Fire Nation soldier has one hell of a journey ahead of him- and one hell of a past behind him.
1. The Calm Before the Storm

A/N: Behold, a story nearly six months in the making... I first had the rough plan of writing this story way back in April of 2011. At the time I had other things on my mind- finishing up my previous story, which can be found in all its glory by going to the search engine and typing in "black company", then clicking the story at the top of the list.

Also, I was rewatching Full Metal Jacket and wondering how much Army Basic Training would resemble it. The answer: for about 50% of the first half of the movie, I was able to say, "Hey, that totally happened to me!"

So hammering a good story out of the idea was not at the top of my priorities.

But now, hell, I got a shiny new laptop and a fair bit of time to kill at my shiny new duty station. It's time to stretch those literary muscles again and see if story-telling is still in my repertoire.

Many thanks to J. Idanian (who writes some pretty kick-ass fanfics as well), for his help in editing this story.

Cheers, and please review if you can spare the time. Suggestions, concerns, and other corrections are always taken into account, even if I don't always follow them. Also, I get a small thrill in the pit of my stomach from watching the number of reviews rise.

* * *

><p><em>To whom it may concern-<em>

_If you are reading this, then it's very likely that either you or one of your friends killed me, and are now looting my body._

_If this is not the case, you may just throw this message away now._

_If this is the case, then know this- you will be joining me soon. I promise. We can Bend the deadliest element known to mankind; we are strong; we are legion. My comrades will scatter your ashes to the four winds. It's just a matter of time._

_So enjoy yourself! While you can!_

_Shenzi_

The tea room was empty save for the two teenaged soldiers. The owners, a married couple in their sixties, knew that traffic wouldn't pick up until nightfall when the locals got off of work. They also weren't charging the pair for the tray of full tea cups the soldiers were slowly emptying and turning upside down, which both Shenzi and Hsu greatly appreciated.

"Hey, Hsu! Check this out."

Shenzi swivelled the crisp sheet of paper around the table so his friend could read it.

Hsu pinned the sheet to the surface with two fingers, read it, shook his head.

"Wow, guy. Just wow."

Shenzi smiled. He flapped the paper gently up and down to dry it out.

"There's cocky, and then there's ultra cocky, and then there's you, guy." Hsu shook his head in wonder.

"Life without cockiness is like dinner without spices. You can do it, but you'd never want to."

"So. Are we all set for tomorrow night?"

"Yep. _Wakizashi_, sharpened. Map, studied. Armored, cleaned. Tea..." Shenzi paused to slurp. "...consumed. Yep, all set."

Hsu frowned. "You're... you're really going to Jump in armor?"

"Oh, yes. Can't get in a scrap with an Earthbender without some metal between him and my precious, vital organs." Shenzi carefully rolled his note into a scroll and tied it closed with a length of string from his pocket. A graceful swirl of his long, clever fingers conjured a small flame that burned the ends of the string, and semi-melted the middle knot.

"Let me try this from a different angle. You're seriously going to _land_ in armor?"

"What? I can handle it."

"..._ Cocky_."

Shenzi slipped the roll of paper into a waterproof tube that would hang around his neck. "It's only cockiness if I screw up. If I land intact, it actually counts as confidence."

"Uh-_huh_. Remind me again why I spend time with you?"

Shenzi thought a moment. "Skilled, handsome, no one else would associate with you- _ai!_ You little-!"

Hsu had upended Shenzi's cup into his face, and the tea was served hot here.

* * *

><p>Shenzi and Hsu first met when they were both ten years old, as study partners assigned by the teacher. Hsu took to mathematics and economics naturally; Shenzi could add, subtract, divide and multiply, but anything past that and he was overwhelmed. Likewise, Shenzi knew History and Politics, areas where Hsu was lost in the woods.<p>

What started as mutual support quickly developed in friendship, and pretty soon they were spending every moment of free time with each other. Shenzi grew tall and lanky, with a sly, fox-like face and long, clever fingers. Hsu was six inches shorter, a lot more natural muscle mass, and had a face that haunted the daydreams of every girl in the class. And yet strangers still mistook them for twins.

Shenzi's father was a sculpter, and Hsu's mother was a server in an upscale tea room in a prosperous part of town. They might have gone on in their parent's footsteps, still life long companions, save that they both excelled in the art of Firebending.

Nonbenders might or might not get conscripted in the endless war out to the east. Firebenders of any skill level at all were shipped out the moment the Fire Lord could get away with it.

* * *

><p>Hsu drained another tea cup and placed it on the tray as Shenzi Bent a small flame up and down his <em>gi <em>jacket, drying himself off.

"Damn, but this is good tea."

"Mmmm," Shenzi agreed. "It's even better when you drink it, instead of trying to absorb it through the eyeballs."

"Strong, but sweet."

"Like me."

Hsu cocked an eyebrow. "Either you misheard me, or I misspoke. I said that the tea is _strong_, and _sweet_."

They exchanged quick, easy grins. Then the future loomed in both their minds, and the smiles went away again.

"We'll leave a good tip here," Shenzi said.

"The best. It's not like _we_ can use the money."

* * *

><p>Shenzi and Hsu were Jumpers. Becoming a Jumper had only three requirements.<p>

First, a good service record. Shenzi had clocked in two solid years with the Northern Fleet, skirmishing with the resilient Northern Water Tribe and the minor Earth Kingdoms on the north coast. After that he was assigned the task of guarding convoys in an area with a heavy guerrilla infestation. Hsu had received a battlefield promotion to corporal on the fields of Yagaki- an infamous three day charnel house that claimed the lives of almost 20,000 Fire soldiers, with thrice that wounded. The Fire Nation had won, technically, but it had taken them months to recover before they could advance and claim the territory they had won.

Second, extraordinary prowess in the art of Fire Bending. The moderately talented need not apply.

Third, the ability to land hard from a great height and at high speeds, and emerge from the landing unharmed and able to fight.

Jumpers were a relatively new concept, created by a Navy Captain named Bazu. The idea was simple; the Fire Navy had scores of catapults available, but few targets. Once an enemy was a few thousand feet inland, none of the might of the Fire Navy could touch them, save by shooting at random and hoping for the best. The enemy wouldn't even need to go far- slipping into a local gorge or behind a hill would save just as well.

Captain Bazu had meditated on this problem at length, and concluded that, _obviously_, the best solution was to launch soldiers from the catapults instead, and have them mark the enemy's location with flares.

The initial trial was discouraging. The proto-Jumpers had a tendency to land badly, breaking legs and wrists and backs. Even when they survived the landing intact, they found themselves alone behind enemy lines, and none of them had any method of dealing with that sort of fear and pressure. They were all used to fighting in a block of comrades, and being cut off in the heat of battle was something that had always scared them. They were either captured or slain in short order. Only one volunteer succeeded in reaching his objecting and shooting up the flare. The man, who was named Kazuo, failed anyway, though it wasn't his fault- it seemed that each ship had a different opinion as to where on the map the flare was. The result, though awe-inspiring, was ineffective. The Fire Navy had bombed an entire valley to ash but somehow missed its target.

Kazuo made good his escape in the confusion, and after he was picked up at the rally point, Captain Bazu asked him for suggestions as to what to change for the next time.

"Everything," he was told.

* * *

><p>"If I drink another cup of tea, I'm going to puke." Shenzi pushed a half full cup away from himself. The cup slide gracefully across the smooth wood table. His face was pale, drawn, like a man dying of cancer.<p>

"What, are you nervous or something?" Hsu made a stab at jocularity.

"_Yes_."

* * *

><p>There was, at least, a certain amount of forethought put into the operation this time around.<p>

Instead of using fifty individuals, Captain Bazu was slimming it down to twelve total- four teams of three.

Instead of using anyone who volunteered, regardless of how able they were, those twelve had received extensive training. They had all completely mastered the skills necessary to pull a successful operation- how to fall without injury, how to swim, how to move silently, how to use cover and concealment.

Instead of using a single flare to mark the target, Captain Bazu had developed a more complicated system. Once a Jumper team found a viable target, they would take up positions around it. Once in position, they would each Bend two columns of flames into the sky, aimed up in a ninety degree angle. Distance from the shore would be color-coded: red for one thousand feet, green for two thousand, and so on.

Ideally, the Fire Navy would see the flames from inland and extrapolate (using direction, distance, and terrain association) exactly where on the map each set of flames was coming from. It would form a triangle on the map- everything inside that triangle was to be destroyed.

There were some problems with this system, of course. The Jumpers weren't worried about receiving friendly fire; they were resigned to it. Taking up a position right next to an Earth Kingdom battalion and then lighting up your location was not the safest of plans either. The Jumpers would have to keep the fires burning until they saw the catapults loose, regardless of whether the enemy is attacking or not. And it's damned difficult to fight anybody with both your hands keeping the signal sky-high.

Captain Bazu had no great hopes that his Jumpers would survive the mission. But he was pretty sure that the Jumpers could successfully call for fire before they died- and all he needed was one vital target destroyed, just one. He believed that if he could just show his Commander a previously untouchable Earth Kingdom post charred into the ground, the patronage would allow him to refine and expand the program.

Captain Bazu dreamed of being the man who single-handedly won the war, of the glory and riches that were in store for the one who could deliver the Earth Kingdom to Fire Lord Azulon.

Shenzi and Hsu dreamed of steel and screaming and fire.

* * *

><p>Both Shenzi and Hsu left over half their gold at the table- the tip was far larger than the bill would have been.<p>

They went out into the night to find another place of business they could patronize. They wanted empty purses when the time came to Jump.

* * *

><p>As the old saying has it, it's not the fall that kills you, it's the landing.<p>

It turned out there was an art to landing that had kept Kazuo alive. They had got into the essentials on the third day of training.

"You," Kazuo had said, pointing to Hsu. "Oh, sacred flames, look at you." Like everyone on the Jump field Hsu was bared to the waist, wearing only a loose black _gi _bottom. His three years of training in the Fire Army had him in peak physical condition. The only thing marring his body was an ugly scar on his left side, where a Water Tribe whale tooth sword had broken through his armor.

Hsu jumped a little, self-conscious at being singled out. "Sir?"

"You have muscles like wrought iron. You poor bastard, you're going to break on impact."

"Sir?"

"Stop calling me sir, guy. Look-" Kazuo threw a quick, casual body punch at Hsu, who took it without flinching. Shenzi, who was standing next to him at the time, almost jumped Kazuo then and there but held himself back, recognizing in time that the strike was at far less than half power. By this time, he had enough muscle to go along with his height that he could qualify as intimidating instead of lanky.

"See? Like punching solid steel. Oh, you're going to drive me insane, guy." Kazuo sighed. "I mean, you're _all _going to drive me insane, but you in particular, Mr. Muscle man. Pay close attention, now. There are several tricks to Jumping and landing safely. This is the first and most important. _Loosen up_. If you tense your muscles up mid-flight, guy, you're going to shatter." He slammed a fist into a palm for emphasis. "Bam! End of mission, end of story. Half the guys I Jumped with tensed up before they got tossed. They all neutralized themselves on impact. Never even engaged the enemy. We could have all saved a lot of time, money and effort and just had them trampled by a Rhino squadron back home."

Shenzi had seen a lot of bad things in his short life. But he decided that he had seen nothing as horrible as the look in Kazuo's eyes right then.

"Let me throw a metaphor at you. When a tsunami strikes the shore, what survives, a mighty oak tree or a blade of grass?"

"Blade of..." "The blade." "The grass." "Yes, sir, the grass."

"That's right," Kazuo nodded. "You, Shuzi. Tell me why."

"It's Shenzi, sir."

"Guy, I'm gonna..."

"Sorry, s-" Shenzi kept the "sir" from escaping, but it was hard. Kazuo just felt like a sir to him. "The blade of grass survives, because it accepts its fate and allows the water to flow over. The mighty tree gets broken off because... because it's too strong too survive being beaten."

"True. But needlessly wordy and philosophical. Let me just say it flat out, preschool style. If you Jump hard, your bones pick a fight with the ground. At the speeds you'll be going, the ground _will_ win, every time. If you Jump loose, you allow the ground to win, and in gratitude, the ground will allow you to survive. Well, I mean, there's a _lot_ more to it than that, but this is what you need to master before anything else happens."

Kazuo pointed out into the field. The field had hard, packed dirt, and the trainees could make out glimpses of jagged rock half-hidden beneath yellow chaff.

"This is where we'll be training. Not today, of course, you don't know a damn thing. Today is breathing exercises, and stretches. Tomorrow we'll start at twenty foot Jumps, and see where we'll go from there.

"And remember- always Jump loose."

The lesson had come, hard and fast. Direct your momentum across the ground, not into it. Initial impact should happen on the balls of your feet. Arch your back while in flight to increase wind resistance and avoid building up too much speed.

Of the two hundred total applicants that went through the camp, only 30 could master the landing techniques to Kazuo's satisfaction. The twelve that showed the greatest progress were selected for the raid on the Yu Gao peninsula. The rest would form the backbone of the next class. And Captain Bazu would make damn sure that there would be another class to sacrifice upon the altar of victory.

* * *

><p>The pair were sitting on a park bench, staring up at a glorious sky.<p>

Shenzi started to speak, perhaps to comment on the night's beauty or ask his friend a question. He stopped himself. This could be the last time in his life he could just hang out with Hsu. There was no need to spoil it with random words.

Hsu twirled his purse around his wrist, then twirled it off again. No gold jangled in it. Shenzi absentmindedly walked his remaining copper across his knuckles, over and over again.

Silence continued its reign in peace until Hsu spoke at last.

"What time are we meeting up Jeong Jeong again?"

"Six o'clock in the morning. Then we got last minute stretching, inspections, and so on. That crap'll last all afternoon. After that..." Shenzi trailed off.

"After that we eat dinner."

"Yes. Yes, we do. But after _that_, around nightfall..."

Hsu nodded. "Around nightfall, we fall."

Shenzi breathed deep and tasted the cool, damp air. He exhaled hard. "Then I suppose we'd better hit the sack early tonight."


	2. Fire for Effect

It was hot out on the water. Shenzi had known that the day would be a scorcher- last night while out on liberty with Hsu, he had been too warm for today to turn out nice. The temperature sizzled in the early twilight, built up momentum all morning, and hit its stride around noon.

The sailors moaned and complained, but the twelve Jumpers did not. The only thing they had to complain about was what they'd knowingly volunteered for.

The familiar stretches loosened their bodies and relaxed their souls all morning. The only thing left before Jumping into the combat zone was the safety briefing every soldier got before a fight.

The Jumpers found it both sick and amusing.

Kazuo volunteered to deliver the briefing, since he suspected that if Captain Bazu tried to give them safety tips he'd either be set on fire or laughed off.

"Listen up, killers," Kazua rasped to the ring of Jumpers sitting on the deck in front of him. "The Moki Yang Peninsula is the most miserable, godless, lethal slab of real estate on the face of the entire planet." Kazuo believe in the power of a good opening line. "Every stream in a two hundred mile radius leads to the lake that surrounds the Moki Yang- this means this place is fertile as anything. So you got hordes of the freakiest damn wildlife I've ever even _heard of_. There are rat-wasps the length of my shin, swarming in the tens of thousands. These are what their homes look like."

Kazuo's assistant dutifully passed sketches to the Jumpers, who studied them briefly. The nests looked like swirled mounds of dirt with tiny holes all over it. An ostrich-horse stood by to show the scale; the nests stood almost ten feet tall.

"If you see anything like these, keep away at all costs. Better to get your head split by an Earthbender than run for it through a patch of these suckers. Speaking of suckers."

Kazuo's assistant passed out more sketches.

"There's also plenty of wolf-bats. The breeds hereabouts have developed a taste for human blood. If a pack of these find you hurt and alone, they _will_ suck you dry." This was a slight exaggeration; wolf-bats might slip up to a sleeping form and gently nip an artery to lap a bit, but they probably wouldn't attack. Kazau was simply hardcore about safety briefings. "So _don't_ get separated from your team. Also, this is one of the biggest concentrations of sabretooth bullmoose in the world, and we're about halfway through mating season. The mothers will shred you if you get between them and their kids, and the males will shred you because the hormones flowing through their system are telling them to eliminate all threats and competitors."

Kazuo went on in great detail about the hazards of rockslides and mudslides; the variable weather, that could overheat your brains to mush one minute and then have you dead from hypothermia the next; the various poisonous plants and mushrooms that weren't safe to eat.

"Gee, Kazuo," one of the Jumpers said. Her voice dripped with affected anxiety. "This place is sounding pretty dangerous to me."

Hsu nodded. "Leng's right. I vote we call this off before one of us gets hurt."

A ripple of laughter floated through the group.

Leng shrugged her shoulders. "Still, it could be worse."

"But you heard him, Leng! There are _rockslides_, and everything!" Shenzi exclaimed.

"Yes, but at least there aren't any Earthbenders guarding the place or anything."

Jeong Jeong laughed a great belly laugh.

"Oh, yes, almost forgot," Kazuo interrupted. "There are Earthbenders and Waterbenders and Earth and Water soldiers you might need to fight."

A chorus of extravagant groans and complaints broke out.

"Man, this sucks."

"No one told _me_-"

"Aw, seriously?"

"But I'm a pacifist!"

Kazuo gave them a brief history of the Moki Yang's role in the war.

The Moki Yang jutted south from the mainland, approximately equidistant from Ba Sing Se and the first Fire Nation colonies. Three times the Fire Army had tried to bypass it, only to find that all the Earthbenders they drove back could just retreat into its rocky terrain and sally out at will. The Navy couldn't mount any significant attack because the coast was patrolled by veteran Waterbenders. The whole environment favored the enemy in every possible way, and the Fire Army couldn't advance to its real objective without dealing with the threat to its flank. The Moki Yang needed to be neutralized before the Fire Nation could even think about burning Ba Sing Se to the ground.

"Neutralized?" Hsu asked. "Hey, I think I see where we come in."

If the Earth Kingdom command and control center was to be destroyed before the Fire Army made its move, they'd stand a much better chance of breaking through.

"Of course, the C&C center isn't the only valid target. If you find an enemy battalion, a supply dump, or any other high-payoff target, light it up."

* * *

><p>They'd be Jumping straight into the center of the peninsula, all of them together. If some of them were to flub their landing, they'd have to rebuild their teams and carry on regardless.<p>

From the approximate center, they'd take off in different directions and start scouting for good targets.

The rally point would be the southern tip of the peninsula- the assault force that would be going in at daybreak would be attacking from there.

Jeong Jeong blew out a tense breath. "I pity the team who is assigned to go north from the LZ."

"That's _your_ team," Kazuo said.

Hsu and Shenzi swore simultaneously.

* * *

><p>They all went to their bays, got prepared. Each Jumper would be carrying one small personal weapon, their black <em>gi <em>pants and jacket, their leather boots, and nothing else.

They weren't allowed to wear any armor under their jackets, but Shenzi figured that they probably wouldn't court-martial him for it when he came back.

Shenzi and Hsu feverishly worked over their war gear- they ground more dirt and grey clay into their _gis._ They had learned back in Jump school that, paradoxically, sheer black tends to stand out at night. Dull gray and brown fade into the environment even in the day.

They tended to their weapons once more. The weapons didn't really need it, but all the sudden they weren't sure they had done a good enough job the previous day, and it was better safe than sorry. Shenzi's _wazikashi _gleamed like starlight by the time he was through with it. Hsu polished his _tambo _over and over again, until the wood was completely free of oil.

"This damned sea air," Hsu said, shaking his head. "The salt just eats away at it."

"Same difference. I mean, what you have there is basically just a stick. When we land, you can break one just like it from the nearest tree."

"Keep pressing your luck, guy." Hsu smacked the baton hard into his palm and pulled a grim smile. "Just keep pressing it."

Shenzi just smirked and fingered the waterproof tube around his neck.

* * *

><p>Bazu addressed them one last time, silhouetted against a fiery sunset. The ship rocked softly, making him constantly shift his weight to accommodate it.<p>

"Men, women, Firebenders all," he began. "We are on the very brink of victory."

The Jumpers stood in silence, decked out in the gear they'd Jump in in half an hour.

"This war has raged on for decades, sapping us of our strength and testing our resolve. We have discovered that the price of building a world crowned with the Fire Nation was a terrible one. Generations of young men and women gave their lives that Sozin's vision might become a glorious reality."

He paused, choking back tears.

Hsu caught Shenzi's eye, and cocked an eyebrow. _It's nice that he'll at least cry for someone_, Shenzi read on his face.

"Generations," Bazu whispered. Somehow, his whisper came across loud enough and clear enough to reach the sailors to the rear of the boat. "No more. No more shall we futilely strike a blow against our enemies only to watch our forces knocked back again. No more shall we trade our precious blood for a few inches of land! No more shall our victory be just beyond our grasp!" His voice swelled like an ocean's roar. "Today we take the first step towards winning the war!"

The sailors screamed their approval, stomping their feet and hollering loudly.

The Jumpers clapped sedately.

"I know you are taking a terrible risk," Bazu said, soft voice bathed in empathy. "I know. And I can tell that you don't think much of a crusty old pogue who isn't even Jumping with you. I can promise you, though. You will be remembered. Whether you live, or not... you will be household names throughout all eternity, all of you. Those who fought these last seventy years will hear your names and praise you, knowing you kept their sacrifice from being meaningless. The mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who watched a loved one march off and never come home... they'll remember you too. And the children of the future, when they're taught about the war that Sozin began and Azulon ended, when _they _read about the Twelve Jumpers, they'll thank you too." Bazu straightened his back and bowed slightly to the Jumpers.

They all bowed deeply in return.

Bent over at the waist, Shenzi stared at the deck and thought, _After tonight, no one will even remember our names. They'll remember Captain Bazu's genius, but win or lose we'll be forgotten._

He didn't know why he was so sure, but he was. He could not picture any future that would remember these twelve soldiers who went on a suicide mission.

* * *

><p>"Divine Wind," Hsu murmured with a ghost of a smile. They were minutes from the Jump, with the artillery men fussing over trajectories and ranges while their ammunition stood by, nervous and shaking.<p>

Centuries before, back when there were still such things as Avatars, a mighty Earthbender named Chin the Conqueror almost took over the world. The Avatar had become detached from the world, living in peace in her home country while ignoring the plight of the conquered.

Chin took an armada to the Fire Nation to add the islands to his collection of subdued provinces.

He never arrived. An immensely powerful typhoon smashed his fleet to splinters. Chin washed ashore back in the Earth Kingdom, sputtering with impotent rage and frustration.

Seven years later, he tried again with an even larger fleet that was specially designed to power through bad weather- and another, even more awe-inspiring typhoon came to once more send Chin's hopes down to the bottom of the ocean in wooden shards.

The Fire Nation gave thanks for its salvation, calling the twin typhoons the Winds of the Spirits, or Divine Wind.

There would be no help from the Spirit world this time. If they wanted a miracle, then _they_ would have to be the Divine Wind.

"_Kamikaze_," Shenzi agreed.

* * *

><p>Seconds away. It seemed to Shenzi that it was only a few days ago his Captain had asked for volunteers for a dangerous mission; a few hours since he qualified at Jump School; a few brief moments since he and Hsu had sat around that old couple's place drinking free tea.<p>

The waiting was over. It was here. It was here and now he was going to die, and it seemed to him that his life had been remarkably short and unsatisfactory. Three years rolling around his parent's house as a toddler, twelve studying in school and learning Firebending, three spent fighting. And now, the end of his journey was close, so close he couldn't stop shivering.

Shenzi

Sitting as curled ball in the seat of the catapult, Shenzi felt like throwing up, but knew somehow he wouldn't.

_I love my homeland more than I love myself_, he thought. He was surprised to find that it was true. He hadn't noticed in his time in the Fire Army that he had nurtured a strain of patriotism all along. It didn't matter that Bazu would reap the glory and he would perhaps get an unmarked grave; it really was better that he should die to the Fire Nation's benefit than live and watch his country bleed in an endless war.

He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts and musings he never heard the artillery sergeant give the order to launch.

* * *

><p>Shenzi noted with detached satisfaction that he had managed to get spread into a spread eagle pose perfectly despite his initial shock at finding himself airborne.<p>

The wind pulled his shoulder length hair back and down, and soon enough back and up. The wind cut right through his _gi_ and armor to the bone. He ignored it; Kazuo had warned them that it would be cold up there.

It was just past twilight. The sky behind Shenzi was a light pink from the remains of sunset, and ahead of him the Moki Lang was shrouded in deep purple, getting bigger and bigger as they wind deafened him. He made a quick survey of the landing area and prepared himself by relaxing every muscle in his body. The ground rushed up to meet him. He made first contact with the ball of his left foot on the hard dirt, bent his knee to absorb some of the impact, then forcibly flung himself forward. Shenzi bounced and scrapped and slid his way across the landscape. As he skidded along, he was just started to congratulate himself when his momentum slammed him into the base of a tree.

* * *

><p><em>Am I hurt?<em> Shenzi wondered as he laid flat on his back staring up. It occurred to him that that was a stupid question- everything hurt.

_Am I injured?_ The thought of being stuck behind enemy lines, crippled and helpless, scared him badly.

Shenzi kept his breath under control as he focused all his attention on the rise and fall of his chest. Lungs, heart and ribcage intact.

He twisted his head left and right, then turned his head back to its original position, working his jaws. Face and neck, fine.

He lifted his left arm up slightly, then his right. Collar bones good, right shoulder aching.

He hesitantly raised his right arm again, bent it at the elbow and twiddled his fingers. It hurt a lot, but the muscles and bones could move without hindrance, and that meant he was fine.

Shenzi tensed his abs. Also sore, but he was pretty sure that there were no internal injuries. The armor had bruised him but protected his innards admirably.

He checked his lower half as well. Hips, groin, ankles and feet were in pretty good condition, but his left knee felt like it was on fire.

He rose in one fluid motion and stood still as a dozen aches and pains made themselves known. He bent at the knees, jumped up, and landed in a deep horse stance. The knee must just be banged up from the landing, and not the impact with the tree.

"Ha," Shenzi breathed to himself. "Ha. Ha. And you thought I couldn't Jump in armor. Ha. Whew."

He scooped up his _wazikashi_, still in its sheath, and padded silently off to find his team.

* * *

><p>Shenzi was creeping along in the darkness, trying to figure out where on the map he had landed.<p>

_Let's see_, he thought, scanning the horizon. _That mountain there should be Kun Jin, so the river I'm following is the Yeng-tze. Follow it south far enough and... yep, that valley over there is Oma's Trench._ He stopped, looking around for anyone else wearing a filthy _gi._ He saw nothing in the dark.

_Great_, he thought. _I'm right where I'm supposed to be, but no one else is-_

Shenzi's first warning of contact was a thin but powerful hand gripping his shoulder. He almost jumped out of his skin, half drawing his weapon while trying to get away.

"Relax," a voice hissed. "Relax, you idiot. It's me."

"Jeong Jeong?" he asked sheepishly. "How'd you sneak up on... oh, wow, sir."

Jeong Jeong moved his face into the moonlight, and Shenzi still could barely make it out. Jeong Jeong had smeared some kind of berry juice all over his face, blurring it into near invisibility. Black, dull red, and brown stripes criss-crossed all over, leaving him barely recognizable as human.

"Like it?" Jeong Jeong bared his teeth. The whites stood out against the camouflage. "Trick I picked up back in the colonies, a few years back. Come on, Shenzi, let's get you integrated. Follow me."

* * *

><p>Nine of them had survived the landing.<p>

Jeong Jeong, Shenzi, and Hsu were all still intact.

Leng's team had had murderously incompetent catapult operators, but she had been lucky enough to land in a thick tree cover, which slowed her descent. Her two soldiers hit a mountain side dead on. She headed up another team, taking charge of a pair of cousins named Echi and Ochi whose team leader had broken her neck upon entry.

Bo Kee's team, also intact, consisted of Tam and Cho.

The three bodies were quickly and quietly buried by the survivors to prevent discovery.

After thinking it over, Jeong Jeong split Leng's team up.

"Better to have two good chances at calling for fire," he said, "than three uncertain shots."

Jeong Jeong took Leng, and Bo Kee took Echi and Ochi.

"We're still going north," Jeong Jeong told Bo Kee. "You find some target near to the shore and blow it up. I do not care if that target's destruction changes the tide of battle or not, just find something you can justify to Captain Bazu. Then just hide as best you can till the Rhinos land. Do not be a hero, Bo."

"Yes, sir." Bo Kee's face betrayed his relief. _His_ team, at least, had decent odds of seeing the dawn.

* * *

><p>The four Jumpers half ran, half crawled through the darkness, stopping every few minutes to keep their bearings. At one such stop, Jeong Jeong whispered to them.<p>

"Do you know why I chose you all?"

Shenzi and Hsu shook their heads in unison. Leng whispered back, "No, sir."

"Because I've been watching you all throughout Jump School. You three are like me. You have the killer instinct. Violence comes as naturally to us as breathing does to that coward Bazu."

Shenzi had never seen himself in that light. He could sense Hsu shaking his head next to him.

"If we wish to survive the night, we need to be tigers in the dark. We must bring more concentrated power and ferocity upon our enemies then they can bring upon us. And we will."

Jeong Jeong smiled encouragingly.

"That hill up ahead will make a good observation post and rally point," he continued. "We head up there, scout the immediate surroundings. If there's something good nearby, we'll light it up and hole up in the clump of trees at the top of the hill. If there's nothing, we'll rest and then move farther north. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Once they decided on a rally point, a small depression with plenty of brush to hide in, they scouted in all directions, hunting for something worth the risk of calling for fire.<p>

In the north, Jeong Jeong found a likely looking supply depot.

In the east, Shenzi found an undersized platoon stationed at a crossroads.

In the west, Hsu found a small group of soldiers putting themselves through intensive Earthbending training.

In the south Leng found the enemy general, a powerful warrior named Lan Chu. With him at the headquarters were all his staff and a company of elite Earthbenders acting as bodyguard.

It was generally agreed that Leng had won.

* * *

><p>"So, how are we going to crack this nut?" Shenzi wondered quietly. The headquarter's sentries were as alert as any guard set behind the battle line. They were paying attention, but they weren't expecting anything. They certainly couldn't spot the four Jumpers, dressed as they were in dingy brown with dull face paint.<p>

"Well, there's the suicide route," Hsu offered. "We just blaze up and hope that the artillery shoots before they reach us."

"Lovely. And if they get us before the catapult jockeys loose, then the rounds will probably miss, and the whole operation is a waste of time."

"We stand well back, then." Leng said. "Just make the triangle larger, gives us more time."

Jeong Jeong cut off that line of thought. The larger the triangle, the less accurate the artillery would be.

* * *

><p>It was on all their minds, though each thought that they were the only one thinking it. It only took three to call for fire, and there was four of them. From Captain Bazu's point of view, they were all expendable; but in this situation, one of them was a little bit more expendable then the others.<p>

* * *

><p>"I have an idea..." Hsu broke off, swallowing.<p>

"Well, better get it out of your head before it dies of loneliness," Shenzi said.

"The three of you take up positions around the target and light up. The guards come out and try to engage you. They see me instead."

Jeong Jeong let out a long-held breath. Leng looked sick to her stomach.

"No, no, no," Shenzi hissed, grabbing Hsu by the collar as though to keep him from rushing out into the open. "Bad idea."

"It'll work."

"No, damn it. It would be you versus an entire company of the Earth Kingdom's best, and the winner gets to be burned alive from catapult fire. It's the stupidest plan I've ever heard."

Hsu gazed at his friend, smiling sadly. "But it'll work. I can't beat them, but I can delay them long enough. Sir, please back me up here."

Jeong Jeong had been sitting with a stillness to rival stone. "I'm curious, Corporal. Do you think you could defeat me in an Agni Kai?"

"Uh..."

"No?"

"Well, I'm pretty good, sir. But... I mean, I've heard the stories about you."

"So, you don't think you could, then." Jeong Jeong's face under the berry juice was feral, imbued with threat and potential savagery.

"It would be a hell of a fight, sir, but I think you'd beat me."

"So why would you go out and not me? Would I not last longer than you?"

"Yes, sir. But the ones who survive would need to navigate five miles south through enemy held territory. And the closer we get to the front lines, the more dangerous it would get. We'd be better off with an experienced officer in charge than a dope like me."

Jeong Jeong sighed deeply and nodded his acceptance.

Shenzi raised one hand, as though he was back in school asking a question of the teacher. "Sir, request permission to beat some sense into Corporal Hsu."

"Denied, Shenzi."

"Request permission to talk to him privately, then."

* * *

><p>"Hsu, you stupid son of a bitch, you can't... you can't... you can't ditch me like this."<p>

"I'm not ditching you, Shenzi. I'm waging a war."

All the sudden Shenzi felt something wet sliding down his cheek. It took him a moment before he realized he was crying.

"You can't. Please. Let me. I can do it just as well as you."

"Nope."

"_Damn it, Hsu_-"

"In the quiet, unforgettable words of Lieutenant Jeong Jeong- if you and me fought in an Agni Kai, who would win?"

This was Hsu's trump card. The pair had mock-dueled for almost a decade, and four times out of five Hsu would win. And Shenzi won most of his victories by ambush.

Shenzi's tears came harder.

Hsu laid a hand on Shenzi's shoulder. "Divine Wind."

There was a pause while Shenzi struggled to control himself. Then, with his eyes dried and back straight, Shenzi responded in a firm voice.

"Divine Wind, Hsu. Let's get back to the others."

* * *

><p>Hsu low crawled out into the open flatland to the south, his <em>tambo<em> strapped to the side of his thigh. Twenty minutes after he left the rally point, Jeong Jeong, Leng, and Shenzi started to form their triangle around Lan Chu's headquarters.

Jeong Jeong waited as long as he dared, trying to be sure that everyone was in position. His own hide was in an elevated position, up a rugged hill side, where everyone had instructions to watch like hawks once they settled in.

Jeong Jeong lit a tiny flame, bright in the dark and in view of Leng and Shenzi, and immediately extinguished it.

"Just like training with Kazuo," Shenzi muttered, lighting his own signal. "Exactly like training." He wasn't in a position to see Leng's signal, and Hsu wouldn't be revealing his presence since he was only thrity yards from the entrance to the headquarters.

Leng must have been in position too, because within moments Jeong Jeong set the night ablaze with his twin columns of light blue fire.

_Showtime_, Shenzi thought. Flames burst to life in his palms.

* * *

><p>Back among the ships, fevered calculations were taking place among the artillery men.<p>

Direction was approximately 30 degrees, so take out your map and draw a line from your location out in the lake at that angle, cutting across huge swaths of terrain. The target was somewhere on that line, now let's find out where.

Distance was harder to estimate- light blue meant 4,000 meters but that could be anything from 3,500 to 4,499, which is a massive margin of error. Still, that narrowed it down to just a kilometer of line. The signals were just to the right of the tallest mountain in a ridge, so look at that line you drew and there it is- distance is 4,350 meters.

Mark that point on your line that's 4,350 meters from you. That's the center of the triangle. As far as the catapult jockeys were concerned, it was all over but the screaming.

Now plot the location of each signal. That's the outer limits of the target.

They needed about 15 seconds to calculate it all, but it took longer than that to actually shoot.

If they could only contact the Jumpers and tell them to cut the signals and run for it- they had all the information they needed to shoot, now it was just a matter of aligning the catapults. But with no lines of communication...

* * *

><p>The sentries on duty, four of them, saw the fires spring up. They didn't understand what was happening, but they knew that Firebenders anywhere near Lan Chu's home base meant trouble. Two ran inside to raise the alarm.<p>

Hsu leapt out of cover and sent a precision fire blast that caught one of the surprised sentries in the face. The other ducked and disappeared.

Hsu flopped to the ground and changed positions quickly, while there wasn't anyone watching him. When the soldiers came out and ran around searching for him, he might be able to sneak around behind them and take them from behind. _That _would get their attention.

* * *

><p>Shenzi continued to send his fire skywards while Hsu planned his last battle. He glanced over his shoulder towards the lake. The moment he saw the fireballs start flying, he could go help Hsu get out of the impact area.<p>

"Come on, you dumb bastards," he ground out, holding his fire streams steady. "Stop lounging around and _fire for effect_."


	3. Shattered

Shenzi wasn't a rational human being anymore, and wouldn't be for a while. The bloody, dusty, ragged figure who panted its way north out of the Moki Lang was more of a savage animal than anything else. Intense, unbearable emotion raged through its head and heart. Grief, anger, joy, and hatred warred inside of him, and there was no internal wall to control any of it.

Sometimes a flash of memory would arise and cause the figure to howl without restraint or care.

The figure in its crusty and chaffing _gi _would stagger at first, then right itself, then fall flat on its belly and crawl like an ungainly serpent. Soon it would rise again to stagger along.

At some point in its trek, its head jerked up and behind him. Nothing was visible, but it was abruptly sure that it was being chased.

Earthbenders. The vibrations in their travel gave them away to anyone lying on the ground.

They'd catch it at the rate they were coming. Catch it and crack its skull-

* * *

><p>The Earthbender must have been one of the Irregulars, since he wasn't in proper Earth Kingdom uniform. He was wearing only white trunks, and he had thick ropes wrapped around his hands and forearms up to the elbow.<p>

He swung his left arm around in a tight arc, clasping his palm around the back of Hsu's neck, then clasped his other hand around as well.

A sizable stream of earth snaked up the Earthbender's legs, torso and arms, and formed a block of rock that encased the back of Hsu's head.

He tried to burn his way out of the clinch, but Firebending requires precise stances and a clear mind. Between the Earthbender's power grasp and his own leg injury, Hsu couldn't straighten up to adopt the proper smooth movements. Sparks spilled from his feet and hands, but nothing useful.

The Earthbender grunted, stomping his foot down to call up a layer of rock over his leg.

He kneed Hsu in the stomach hard enough to rupture the internal organs.

Then he struck again, fracturing ribs.

And again into the pit of the stomach.

Shenzi could sense the rhythm of the fight, knew that he wouldn't reach him in time. He screamed in impotent terror.

Hsu desperately tried to get his remaining arm in between his torso and the Earthbender's knees, so the Earthbender switched his aim and kneed him in the forehead instead.

Shenzi thought he could hear Hsu's skull crack fifty yards away.

* * *

><p>The figure screamed as a fresh wave of hatred and sorrow struck it. Some pocket of conscious thought deep inside it was frightened because for the first time in his life he couldn't control his emotions.<p>

Earthbenders on his trail. No way to tell the number of hunters, but even one would be too many in its condition- wounded, tired, unarmed, starving.

Instinct took over, and it started to run frantically, sometimes using its hands when going uphill.

Death was coming for it, and that meant slowing down was not an option.

* * *

><p>Shenzi stabbed, and hacked, and slashed his opponent long after he was dead.<p>

Blood cascaded up every time he swung his _wazikashi_, splashing him all over.

His mind tried to piece together what exactly was going on, but there was no room for thoughts in head.

He was starting to panic because he felt his arm getting tired. He didn't dare slow down, because then the soldier in the green and yellow uniform would arise and avenge himself and then it would be his _enemy_ who stood over _him_, striking away in a mad abandon.

Blood got in his eye and he yelped, rubbing at his eye instinctively. He shrieked and stabbed again before his dead opponent could get up.

That had been _close_. Got to keep it up longer-

* * *

><p>The figure found a stream coursing through the mountain ridge. It gratefully submerged itself, allowing the current to rip the grime, blood, and sweat off of it and its clothing. It didn't stay long. Its pursuers were close. It breathed deep and resumed running.<p>

Within minutes, its left side was covered in blood again- there was a long, shallow slice across its chest. It could sense other breaks in the skin as well.

Not good. Wounds get infected, wounds kill. Blood loss made it tired, but it had enough willpower inside to power through that at least.

_Just keep running,_ it told itself. _They'll break before you do._

* * *

><p>Bright sun in the middle of the night.<p>

Twenty ships, with a minimum of two catapults each. Approximately fifty fireballs coming down on his location.

The last thing Shenzi saw before the artillery storm blinded him was Hsu dropping to the ground and scrunching up in a ball on his left side, trying hard to be a small target.

Fortunately, no shot landed near Shenzi.

After he regained his vision, he saw that Hsu's right arm and leg had been burned through to the bone. Numbness struck him, body and mind.

But Captain Bazu would be thrilled to see Lan Chu's headquarters in ruins. At least five shots had been direct hits.

He stumbled out to help Hsu get up at the same time the Earthbender with ropes wrapped around his arms emerged from the fire pit that had once been the headquarters.

* * *

><p>The figure slowed to a steady trot to preserve energy. The pain wasn't so bad once it found a rhythm and stuck to it.<p>

* * *

><p>Leng was kneeling down with an arrow sticking through her knee, the head sticking out the front. Her face was pale in the light provided by the smoldering fireballs littering the impact area. She hadn't made a sound, not even a grunt of surprise.<p>

Where had that arrow come from? He didn't know. Was she captured, killed? Did she escape?

And just what the hell happened to Jeong Jeong?

So much confusion. The night had been as devastating to Shenzi's coherency as it had been to the Earth Kingdom's battle plan.

Out in the distance, around the southern shore, he could see the darkened landscape twist and writhe as the Earthbenders practiced their art. It was soon answered by massive tidal waves of fire as Shenzi's comrades fought back.

* * *

><p>They were gaining, despite its best efforts to outrun and outlast them.<p>

They could read the ground it ran on, spot the blood splattering every few feet. And Earthbenders didn't slow down a bit going up hill, or worry about slipping when going down hill.

The vibrations they made were now detectable through its feet.

_Fine, _it thought. _Fine. If I can't outrun you sons of bitches, I have other options_.

The figure stopped for just a moment to cauterize the slice on its chest, to prevent any more blood from dripping and giving it away. It doubled back along its trial and snaked into the tree line, quickly establishing a hide that Kazuo would have been proud of. Then it waited for its prey to show up.

It was good to rest for a while, after the previous night's exertions and the morning's frantic running. But it had to be careful to remain alert.

* * *

><p>It was strange, the random details that stuck with him<p>

Hsu's _tambo _was on the ground, and a dead man in green was lying next to it. Shenzi had been unsettled to realize that his best friend had just struck another man in the head hard enough to kill him. Hsu had stalked the party of guards like a vengeful ghost while they tried to reach the Jumpers who were lighting up their position. He had silently killed three of them before they finally turned and started hunting him back.

The screams from the headquarters after the fireballs hit. He couldn't see anything, but his imagination held that living flames shaped like men were staggering around making that awful sound.

The stars above after he ended his twin signals. Stunning, and wonderful. It seemed strange that it was so beautiful up _there_ while down _here_ things were so horrifying.

Stabbing the man in the green and yellow uniform. Sticking him in the belly over and over again because if that guy ever got up, Shenzi would die horribly, so he couldn't afford to stop attacking even for a moment. Blood was splashing in his eye and it was the worst feeling he ever had in his life.

Hsu was curled up in a ball, trying in vain to escape the friendly fire. For one guilty moment, Shenzi was glad that Hsu had volunteered to be the diversion and not him.

His _wazikashi_ wouldn't come out of the damn sheath, and he started to get frustrated with the stupid thing when he remembered that he had tied it closed with string to keep it from slipping out mid-flight. He felt like an idiot for not remembering that.

The string biting into his neck as he low crawled across gritty pebbles. He couldn't recall where he was going, or why it was important. All he remembered was that it was vital that he escape whatever was behind him. The waterproof tube around his neck got pressed against his armor as he slithered down a gully. He couldn't remember what he had written on the paper. He took a few seconds to take off the _gi_ jacket and ditch the armor, but he kept the waterproof tube around his neck.

So much useless information he retained. He didn't know when he got cut across the chest, but it probably happened after the armor was abandoned. And where had his short sword gone? He hadn't had it when he got rid of the armor.

* * *

><p>The lead Earthbender was the Irregular bastard who had broken Hsu's skull. Same white cloth trunks, same ropes around the forearms. Something feral emerged in the figure's soul when he saw that Earthbender. He had two friends with him- one lean, handsome man with short black hair and muscles so rigidly defined that he looked to have been chiseled from stone; and one short, fat man in the Earth Kingdom uniform. They all moved with the same steady confidence that implied serious training.<p>

The figure made some fast calculations as they approached. If they kept going forward, they would find the trail ends in a short while. At that point, they start looking for him in the general vicinity- one guy suggests that that maybe their quarry doubled back...

No. Kill them now. Take them from ambush and burn them to death. Only way.

The initial fireblast knocked all three off their feet and burned the muscular one's left arm. The second was directed at the fat one, who tried to block it with a wall of rock.

The rock wall blocked off the fat soldier's line of sight, which was a fatal error. It allowed the figure to shift position around to the rear unseen. Once the fat one abandoned the rock wall, it took him a moment to realized his enemy wasn't in front of him anymore.

It sent five rapid bursts of fire into the fat soldier's center of mass. The man dropped, squealing.

The figure disappeared into the tree line again before the one with ropes around his arms and the muscular man could gang up on him.

* * *

><p>The screams of Lan Chu's headquarters echoed again through its head. The fat man's squeal wouldn't have been out of place among them. It was crying uncontrollably as it buried its face into a tree trunk, waiting for the next opportunity.<p>

They were tears of misery, not pity.

* * *

><p>They were retreating. Hunting down a helpless enemy was one thing, but this one fought back. They didn't care for a rematch, not after having a one man killed and another wounded.<p>

But the figure didn't want to stop fighting. And the figure was training on how to move quickly and silently and take its time.

The pair of Earthbenders stopped to rest after half an hour, at the same stream that it had washed in. They sat down, breathing hard and looking down their back trail for a threat they would never see coming.

After satisfying themselves that there was no danger, the muscular one knelt by the stream and dipped his burnt arm into the cool water, sighing with relief. The one with ropes around his arms kept watch behind them anyway. He neglected to also keep an eye on his comrade. After five minutes of resting, he turned and called out to the muscular one that it was time to carry on.

The words caught in his throat.

His friend was lying half in the running water, his upper body being bent downstream and legs anchoring it to the shore. A hasty inspection revealed that his neck had been snapped.

The one with ropes around his arms stomped the ground, raising up a platform from the solid earth. He sat down on the flat rock cross-legged, and waited.

The sun rose higher in the sky, raising the temperature another ten degrees. It didn't bother the Earthbender, save that the sun's heat would give a minuscule boost to Firebenders.

After the figure realized that the Earthbender wasn't going to move on, it decided to make.

* * *

><p>"You could have gotten me after you killed Feng," the Earthbender said. "Why didn't you?"<p>

The figure sniffed, spat. "You fought a man with one leg and one arm to the death. You don't deserve to die quick from ambush. I'm gonna let you see your death coming a mile away."

The Earthbender grunted an acknowledgement, tightened his ropes, and stood up. "Ting, from Nong Pradu village."

"Never head of it."

"It's small. And destroyed."

"I'm very glad to hear it," it said. "I'm Shenzi, from New Sozin in the colonies."

Ting cracked his knuckles and advanced fast and steady, like a human rockslide.

* * *

><p>Ting was good- skilled, strong, courageous. He had a strange style, with lots of swinging elbows and knee attacks; the rocks would fly in fast, flat arcs as he Bent his element with practiced skill. And the closer he got, the more dangerous his attacks became. His style seemed to depend on getting in close enough to embrace and overwhelming his opponent with a perfect storm of strikes from every possible angle.<p>

But he just wasn't good enough.

The figure walked away with a broken forearm, a broken nose, at least five cracked ribs, and a savaged grin hurting the corners of its lips.

* * *

><p>"Now what?" it panted as the sun went down. "No food, no water, hurting bad. Nothing in sight. What the hell do I do now?"<p> 


	4. Faces of Dead Men

Shenzi awoke. There was nothing- no more pain. His body seemed to be at complete peace with itself.

"Aah," he sighed. The lack of pain was a drug all by itself. "This is much better-"

Shenzi cut himself off. Just where was he, exactly?

"Huh..."

In a room. That much was clear. Didn't narrow it down much, though. Shenzi inspected the room with as much concentration he could muster.

Smallish. No windows. An unadorned door leading who knows where. Rough wooden floors, so he was either in a high-class house in the country, or a low-class house in the city. He was lying in a cot made of what appeared to be some kind of leather lashed to wooden frames.

He cautiously rocked himself in the cot. The primitive-looking construction took it better than most factory made furniture back home.

Also, looking down at himself while testing the cot revealed that he was covered in animal skins, with his left arm engulfed in some kind of splint and cloth combination. Lifting up the skins revealed that he was naked underneath. The back of his head was soaking wet, hair sopping.

Clearly there was some history here that he had missed.

He looked up just in time to see a little kid slam the door shut and run down the hall shrieking for someone at the top of his lungs.

* * *

><p>"I found you half dead out on the plateau," the old man said.<p>

"Nuh-_uh, _I did!" the boy piped up.

"We did," the old man corrected himself with a warm smile. "The lad stumbled across you- well, tripped over you, in fact- and I took you back here."

Shenzu took a small loaf of warm bread from the table and nibbled it gratefully. "Thank you. Sounds a little... I don't know... insufficient, I guess, but thank you."

The converstion turned from Shenzi to other topics- the variable weather, taxation, local wild life. Shenzi didn't find much of it interesting, but he hung on every word in case the conversation turned back to dangerous territory.

The food was magnificent, although that might have been the starvation talking.

* * *

><p>The old man was named Drah. He was taking care of his grandson Bema while Bema's father was out on the front lines trying to keep the Fire Nation at bay.<p>

Bema only dream in life was to follow his dad's footsteps and become a mighty warrior, feared by his enemies and admired by his comrades. That's why he practiced Earthbending every single day.

When Shenzi learned of Bema's ambition, it threw him into a day-long depression.

Drah himself was a Waterbender. His father had immigrated to the Earth Kingdom from the Southern Water Tribe before the war had began, and as a young man Drah had served as a combat medic in the opening years of the war.

When Shenzi learned of Drah's history, he became absolutely convinced that Drah would kill him in his sleep when he found out that Shenzi was a Firebender. And such was Shenzi's mood that he was absolutely positive that his secret would come out. This contributed to the depression he suffered when he talked with Bema.

Still, it was worth the risk of discovery for the daily soakings that Drah gave him. Gashes and scrapes by now had vanished entirely, not even leaving scar tissue behind. The long, painful slice across his chest had turned bright red and itched constantly. His nose was mending, and his broken bones were quickly knitting themselves back together. The various bruises and aches that the Jump and subsequent battle had given him were improving.

* * *

><p>"Oh, yes. Yes, right there."<p>

Drah manipulated the water into a bright, graceful swirled around Shenzi's midsection.

"Oh, aye," Drah commented. "Dunno how I missed this one. Yeah, looks like your left kidney got banged up pretty good."

_The man with ropes around his arms had Shenzi in a rock solid clinch. As Shenzi tried to pry the hands off his neck, the knee came up sharply._

"Yes, it did," Shenzi said.

* * *

><p>Shenzi gave away what information he dared. He tried for the sake of graciousness to remain honest while he was lying.<p>

He was a soldier. He had fought in the recent battle at the Moki Lang peninsula. His wounds had come from enemy action. He didn't want to talk about the battle, no matter how much Bema begged him for details. He was very grateful for the pair's aid and hospitality.

Not a a lie in the bunch, except for the matter of his name. "Shenzi" was quite obviously Fire nation. Lee, on the other hand, was as Earth Kingdom as names got.

Even in this, Shenzi tried to stay as honest as he could. Li had been his grandfather's name, and there was no difference in pronunciation between the two names.

* * *

><p><em>The sky lit up like a dozen suns at high noons. The Navy was firing for effect, and Hsu was in the line of fire. Hsu was curled up in a ball on his left side, and Shenzi knew that he was about to be charred to the bone, could already see the skin peeling away from the shin's core-<em>

_Shenzi stabbed in a mad frenzy, although his enemy was already dead. Blood hit him in the eye-_

_The three warriors were coming, and he needed to to kill them all before they killed him-_

Shenzi screamed aloud and woke up. Blind in the darkness, he swung a fist the connected with nothing, rolled out of the cot and landed heavily on the floor.

Enemies everywhere. They were streaming south to stem the tide of Fire Nation soldiers landing on the beaches. So he needed to head north. North was safety. Shenzi low crawled for the door when it opened to reveal a bent figure bathed in moonlight from an open window. Shenzi froze. Was he spotted? Either the soldier saw him, in which case he needed to slay him quickly before he called for reinforcements, or he didn't, in which case a surpise attack should remove the threat quickly. He was about to burn him and keep moving when he recognized Drah.

Rationality reasserted itself.

* * *

><p>Drah and Shenzi sat out on the porch. Dawn was about two hours away, but between the stars and the moon, there was enough light to function.<p>

"You seen some shit, Lee, haven't you?" It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Very recently."

"That business down on the Moki Lang?"

"Yes."

Drah shifted and cracked his back, groaning with pleasure. "Yep. The nightmares will be with you for a while, you know."

Shenzi- no, he was Lee now, and had to remember that- Lee nodded sadly.

Many times, after some traumatic incident, a Fire Nation soldier would find that they couldn't function anymore. They became plagued by bouts of depression, trouble sleeping, and random flashbacks. In action, they tended to freeze when they were supposed to react and get themselves and their friends hurt. On leave, they acted out, sometimes violently. Suicide was common. The process was called burning out, and if a burnout couldn't keep himself or herself under rigid control they were usually court-martialed for cowardice and incompentence.

Lee was a burnout and he knew it. He had always figured that it only happened to the weak ones. He had always thought himself too tough to ever burn out, but here he was. He didn't know whether he had been a coward all along and never knew it, or if burning out was something that could happen to anybody.

"I was back there, Drah," he heard himself say. "It was like I was right back there. I was ready and set to waste you and move on to the next objective. I mean, I was _set._'"

Drah nodded with a hint of sadness. "My sergeant when used to say that once you've been in battle, you never leave. Your soul stays there forever while you go on and live your life."

Lee slouched back against the wall of the house. "This sucks. If I have to go back to the Moki Lang every night for the rest of my life..."

Drah intoned, " 'Faces of dead men/ Stalk me by day and I mourn/ All night long in dreams.' "

"Cheerful. Was that a haiku?"

"Yep."

"Real damn cheerful. You just happened to have that memorized?"

"Yep."

"Hmm. Who's the author?"

"Me. A very long time ago."

He had learned poetry in school with Hsu, but had never particularly cared about it one way or another. But this one was a poem worth knowing, as far as he was concerned.

"Faces of dead men..." he murmured.

_Hsu, burning to the bone-_

_Leng with an arrowhead peeking out of her knee-_

_Where the hell was Jeong Jeong-_

* * *

><p>"Hi, Lee!"<p>

"Hey, squirt."

"How are you _doing_?"

"Pretty well, thanks to your grampa. How are you-"

"So what was the battle _like_? Didja kill any Fire Soldiers?"

"I did my best to complete my mission. That's all I'm going to say about it, Bema."

"I bet you were a hero!"

"Not a subject we're discussing."

"But when we found you you had, like, a thousand wounds! I bet you, like, took on a _battalion_ all at once!"

"Well, if I did it was clearly a mistake. I'm still peeing red even after all the healing your grampa gave me."

"_Eww_, gross!" Bema laughed. "Are you going back to the army once you're all better?"

"I don't know."

Bema paused awkwardly. It wasn't often the kid felt embarassed by a thought coming out of his head. "It just... if you were going back I was going to ask you to go see if my dad is still alright."

Lee nodded slowly. "What unit did you say he was with?"

"The Omashu Rangers. He had to walk a _hundred_ miles or something to get to Omashu, but he said he didn't want to just be a militiaman."

"The last I heard, the Rangers are stationed up north protecting the kingdoms up there from naval incursions, and most of the Fire navy is around these parts. He's probably sitting around playing Pai Sho with his buddies, bored out of his skull, wishing he could be with you. You got nothing to worry about, Bema."

Bema smiled, open and innocent. "Thanks, Lee!"

* * *

><p>Later on, Drah approached Lee privately. "You know that the Omashu Rangers were on the front lines at Moki Lang."<p>

"Man, what the _hell_ was I supposed to say?"

* * *

><p>The healing process became more and more complete. Lee regained freedom of movement and freedom from pain in his joints. The slice on his chest faded to a thin, white scar and refused to dissappear any further. Breathing resumed as normal with the healing of his ribs, and his nose was very close to straight now. Most important, his arm was out of the splint and usable. He began an exercise regime, which he followed daily now matter how much he didn't want to- discipline was ground deep into him, even before he joined the army.<p>

Run three miles by sunrise, two at sunset.

50 hotsquats after the morning run when his legs were nice and tired, 40 at night.

60 pushups before noon, 50 after.

5 run-throughs of whatever _kata _he felt like, always before his hosts were awake. It wouldn't do for the old man to see a technique he might recognize as a part of Firebending.

Once this routine stopped hurting him, Lee raised each number of repetitions accordingly.

He regained his old strength very soon.

He still a burnout, though. He sensed that. Thinking back on the Jump could bring him cold sweats and hyperventilation. Some days he would wake up feeling like he hadn't slept at all. He figured that on those occasions he had suffered the night terrors, which are like nightmares that didn't wake him up and that he couldn't remember afterward.

Some days it was will and will alone that got him out of bed and into his exercise routine. On those days all he wanted to do was lay down and wallow in misery, ticking off all the reasons he had to live and finding fault in each one.

His pride wouldn't allow him to act on these impulses. Not yet.

* * *

><p>Sooner than Lee thought possible, it was time to leave. He could sense it in the wind, so to speak.<p>

His arm was much better, his ribs weren't tender. He had energy and strength again. There was no earthly reason to stick around.

Lee went to the fields where the old man tended to his current crop of watermelons to tell him the news.

"Yep," the old man said, leaning on his hoe. "I reckon that figures."

"I, er, don't have any money to repay you for your hospitality-"

"No need, no need. Hell, we didn't take you in to make a profit."

"I was going to say, I could fix something up around here in lieu of cash."

The old man laughed. "Fix _what_? This place pretty much runs itself. I plant the melons for free, sell the melons for a lot, spend the money to buy quality stuff that doesn't break easy. You follow?"

"Yeah, I know," Lee said. He chuckled. "I remember this one merchant who used to follow us around in the camp. He only sold two kinds of boots. The first kind, he said, were cheap as anything. Just two silvers for a pair of slightly ratty boots. I mean, they were goodish, alright, just kind of slapdash. The other pair was magnificant, but they cost five freaking gold pieces."

"Well, you can guess how the sales went. Just about every one of us bought the crappy pair that sold for a song. Only one of us, this dumbass new recruit, bought the expensive boots. Three months later, we needed new boots 'cause the pair we had bought fell apart. Three months after that, we had to buy another pair. Three months later, again. And again and again and again. And we must have spent, like, 10 gold pieces altogether, replacing all those ratty pairs of boots.

"That one guy who invested in his feet only paid five golds, one time. As far as I know, he's still wearing those damn boots even now. They'll probably become a family heirloom."

Drah cackled. "That's a good story, Lee. I'll have to remember that one." He stuck a hand within the wide pockets in his jacket and pulled out a small tube. He handed it to Lee.

"I think this is yours, son," Drah said, still smiling. Lee took it, recognized it, and froze on the spot.

The letter. That dumb-ass, cocky letter from beyond the grave.

_To whom it may concern-_

The seal on it had obviously been broken and remade from candle wax.

_I'm going to have to kill him, aren't I_, a quiet voice inside him said.

Lee looked up from the waterproof tube into the old man's wrinkled eyes. He cleared his throat.

"You read it?" he asked.

"Yep."

"I see."

"Interesting letter," Drah said. "Shenzi."

"That name isn't safe for me," Lee said. He shifted so that his weight was more equally distributed. "Since it's pretty obviously Fire Nation."

"Yep. I like the change of names, personally. 'Lee' is just about as anonymous as it gets. Back when I was in, every third guy was a Lee. And half the women were Lei."

"Now what?" Lee whispered.

"Now... you carry on with whatever you are doing. Hell, I figured you were a Firebender back when we first found you, and I still took you in."

Lee trembled. "You read the note back when you found me."

"Son, I knew you were Fire Nation before I read the note. When a Waterbender injuries someone, there frostbite or deep cuts. When a Firebender injures someone, there's massive burns. When an Earthbender injuries someone, there's broken bones. And you, son, had a good long cut on your chest, like somebody water-whipped you, and some broken bones."

Lee frowned. He didn't remember fighting any Waterbenders, but then, he didn't remember receiving that wound either. "Man, I thought I was being so damn sly."

"It _was_ kind of funny watching come up with safe responses for Bema."

"So... why _did_ you help me?"

"Eh? Son, when wounded men show up, I don't give a damn about politics."

* * *

><p>On the road at last, Lee had seven silvers and a handful of coppers in hand, and enough bread to last a few days. He claimed it was all he needed.<p>

Going south might get him back in contact with the Fire Nation army- east would get him to Omashu.

He didn't recognize at the time the importance of his choice.

He figured that, as a burnout, he didn't have much future in the army. He knew that he might end up at the Boiling Rock for cowardice or lack of morale, or he might panic in the middle of a fight and let his comrades down.

No- better by far to keep some distance until he sorted himself out.

East it would be. He'd make his own opportunities there.

Faces of dead men be damned.


	5. Yojimbo, Part One

Lee came to a crossroads. He was aiming to go east, towards Omashu, on the grounds that one destination was as good as

One road led east. The other also led east, but looked like it angled north a bit.

He couldn't remember how far north Omashu lay. With his luck, he'd pick the wrong one and bypass Omashu by a hundred miles. Lee gripped his temples and gritted his teeth. Damn it, even wandering around with no objective was a pain in the ass.

He stooped and picked up a stick the length of his forearm and tossed it up in the air, watching as it landed.

It pointed more towards the road leading northeast, so that's the road he took.

Technically, he figured, it didn't really matter if he was on the correct path or not.

Hell with it. Just keep walking.

* * *

><p>He realized something was up about a minute before they jumped him.<p>

There was thick forest on the left hand side of the path, and a rocky slope downwards on the right. Up ahead the slope rose and became hillside just before the road curved right.

An entire regiment could be hidden behind that bend, and he wouldn't see them until he was right on top of them.

Then there was the treeline on the left- plenty of hiding places for scouts.

The closer he got to the bend, the more convinced he was that there was an ambush in place. He couldn't explain how he knew- his instincts simply informed him of the danger and expected him to take precautions.

Still, he didn't turn around or deviate from the path. Why should he? He needed to find a town to buy or steal more food, and the only direction that he was positive had no town was behind him. It wasn't like he was loaded up with valuables anyway.

The moment he rounded the bend, a rock the size of his fist struck him gently in the chest. He look up the hillside and saw a man in poofy orange pants and a ridiculous goatee juggling three boulders and smiling.

Lee sighed deeply as his shoulders sagged a bit.

* * *

><p>Lee had never cared about fashion- if it was comfortable and practical (that is, could protect from the elements andor enemy weapons), then he didn't care about the cut of the fabric or whether the colors clashed with each other.

Seeing his muggers up close was making him reconsider his position.

Majestic reds bumped clumsily into deep purples, jarred gleefully with bright greens and yellows, and was trimmed by sky blues and sickly oranges. Looking at them en masse gave him a headache. There was a lack of uniformity among the various styles that grated on his mind- some of the gang had skinny leggings on, and Lee could see every groove and bump in their legs. Others had pants and robes so baggy they almost resembled ballroom dresses.

As far as he was concerned, the less said about the extravagant facial hair and delicate make-up, the better.

It was enough to either drive him crazy or make him laugh aloud, if he dared.

The one thing about them that didn't weird Lee out was the weapons they carried. Long spears and bo staffs, broadswords, knives and clubs were in abundance.

As a crew, they looked tough as nails and kind of like circus clowns.

"Er. Hello," he said. _I'm unarmed, outnumbered a dozen to one, _he thought. _I'm not going to enjoy this._ "Can I help you?"

The clown gang snickered in unison.

One woman smiled sweetly. "Yes, you can, dear heart. We're a bit short of funds at the moment." Another round of laughs. "Could you spare a silver or two?"

"Well, I'm not exactly swimming in cash either, I'm afraid."

"What do you got?"

_Crap_, he thought. He considered lying and saying he had nothing, but rejected it as impractical. "Seven silvers, total."

The woman's smile widened. Her hand, crusted with gold rings, stretched out palm up. "I hate to use a cliche like this, but... your money or your life." Her henchman grinned and gripped whatever weapon they had.

_Her_ henchman. She wasn't just the spokesman for the group, he realized. The others took their cues from her. She had the same air of authority that Jeong Jeong had. He took a closer look at the gang's leader.

A bit short, even in the stylish combat boots she was sporting. Her hair was a shiny black, hanging down past her shoulders. No, hanging wasn't the right word. She had done something feminine to it to make it float like a cloud. Her eyes were bright and intelligent, filled with cunning and avarice (although he admitted that could just be his bias taking effect). She may have been attractive had he met her under different circumstances, and had she not been dressed in several purple skirts in varying shades and a fancy blue _gi _jacket.

Another, closer look changed his mind. She would have been the most beautiful woman in his life had she not been robbing him at sword point. As it was, he made it a rule of thumb not to woo potential murderers.

He took out his purse and counted out all his money. "It's a good day to be alive, ain't it?" he said with a certain hollow cheerfulness. "Birds are singing, sun is shining, and all that." He forced a smile. "And what's a few silvers between _friends_."

* * *

><p>Lee really, really wanted to fight back. Let the bitch come and take the money- he could take her down in one hit with a surprise attack. They had him pegged as easy meat, they'd wouldn't expect a thing. Moment she hits the dirt, rush the rest. Start breaking bones and scorching them while they try to back up and make some space.<p>

If he tried it, he'd die, and he knew that. He had had the cockiness knocked out of him, and he could now sense his limits well.

But it hurt him to be robbed. It _hurt._ His pride could hardly stand to sit there and wave the clowns on while they pissed all over him.

But as far as Lee was concerned, his pride worked for him, and not the other way around.

* * *

><p>"So," Lee said. "You got your profit for the day. Afternoon to you."<p>

He started to walk down the road towards what he hoped was Omashu.

They followed at a leisurely pace, twirling their weapons and laughing at him.

He turned and addressed the woman. "May I politely inquire as to what it is you want now?"

She shrugged and gave a quirky smile. "You didn't have enough money."

"I'm deeply sorry to have disappointed you. But that's a problem with no solution, alas. If I could grow gold coins out of my damn fingertips, I swear to you I wouldn't be where I am now."

He turned and stalked away. This time one of them, an Earthbender, shot a slab of thick mud that _thwacked _into the back of Lee's head. The sludge dripped heavily down the back of his head as he cursed and jerked around.

He went cold with sudden rage. He deliberately adopted a fighting stance-

_Shenzi could feel the man's vertebrae snap cleanly- a low, almost instant vibration ran from his palms up to his shoulders. The man with ropes around his arms didn't hear a thing, so he gently lowered the body in the stream and silently fell back to observe-_

-and he relaxed his body just as deliberately. Roll the shoulders to relax the muscles, keep the breathing steady, and by then the moment had passed and he knew he wouldn't do anything stupid. No matter what his subconscious wanted.

"That's true, you can't give us more money" she said. "So instead of coin, you'll pay in entertainment."

"You really have nothing better to do than harass me?"

She shrugged again and winked, her soft hair bouncing softly. "It's a slow day around here."

One of the more extravagant muggers stomped a foot and thrust a fist out. A small dust cloud rose up around Lee, swirled like a tornado, and dissipated. He rubbed the grit from his eyes and saw that he was lightly coated with white dust from head to toe, like a cookie sprinkled with sugar.

The clowns all roared with glee.

* * *

><p>Later on, with the muggers having tormented him all day long, he plopped down beneath a shady tree and sat cross-legged. He pulled out his dinner wearily.<p>

Upon seeing their victim with the loaf of bread, the gang all loudly declared themselves famished and surrounded him in a semicircle.

He paused. He closed his eyes. He said, "Help yourselves, of course. There's plenty to go around."

He got one bite out of his entire three days of food that Drah had given him.

Having one grandiose last stand against the Fop Squad was starting to sound better and better.

* * *

><p>The rocks were small, but well aimed. They would bang against his head, his shoulders, his ass. After a while, they made a game trying to hit his ankles as he walked to watch the pebbles careen wildly up into the air.<p>

Lee walked as though he didn't even notice them. This seemed to amuse the gang more than dissuade them.

He thought he was doing a good job in the self-control department until the one in the poofy orange pants took to Bending holes in the ground a split second before his feet would have made contact. That's they closest they came to breaking him. A quarter mile of constant stumbling is about a quarter mile too long.

He privately and half-heartedly swore vengeance, though he suspected he'd never get the chance.

* * *

><p>He got to the nearest town, eventually. It was well after nightfall. Once they hit the city limits they seemed to just lose interest and wander away.<p>

He was almost as filthy as when he left the Moki Lang, but at least this time through he was uninjured.

He located the nearest tea shop and made a beeline for it.

* * *

><p>"One pot of your best tea, please. And make it hot enough to give me second degree burns if I hold the cup for too long," Lee told the server. There was only one, and the town was small enough that he likely doubled as the owner and the brewer. The only other people in the tea shop were a knot of men off in the corner talking in low voices. Lee took no notice of them.<p>

The server looked him up and down carefully. The stranger didn't impress him much. "I'm going to need to see the color of your coin, sir." He rubbed his fingers together suggestively.

Lee stared at him, dull-eyed and tired. Then he shot a pair of fingers into the man's ribcage, where they probed deep into a pressure point. The server yelped and scrambled back. Lee followed the motion and ended up with his face less than two inches from the server's nose.

"_The color of my coin will be blood red unless I get some tea this exact instant._"

The server bolted for the kitchen as Lee plopped down at a simple but elegant table. He'd wait for five minutes to see if the server proved too cowardly to return, he figured, then bust down the door to get to the tea.

"You look a little down on your luck, there, stranger."

Lee shifted his gaze across the room where four men, identically dressed in somber black robes, were sitting at a large round table.

"Talking to me, are you?"

"No one else here but you, friend."

The spokesman for the group looked to be in his late fifties, yet projected an aura of strength and will. Thick grey hair was kept cropped short, and his full beard was kept neatly trimmed. His nose looked to have been broken long ago and never set properly.

Lee shrugged. "Well, now that you mention it, I suppose I have had better days, yes."

"Seems strange to me," the grey-haired man said, "that a man with such streak of bad luck would decide to press it even further."

Lee stared at him, cocking his head to one side. "What are you talking about?"

"This is _my_ shop," the man said. His three companions shifted in their seats and reached into their robes. "That man you've been bullying is _my_ man, and he looks to _me _for protection."

"So..." Lee said slowly. "You're what, a policeman with a lot of local investments, or something?"

The man rubbed his beard and smiled while his companions emitted small, controlled chuckles. "Not exactly. We're bodyguards, so to speak."

One of the others took a long, thin knife from the depths of his robes and started cleaning his fingernails. He didn't even look at Lee as he spoke. "Yeah, he pays us- a _lot_- to make sure his shop doesn't have any _accidents_."

The leader nodded. "And how would it look if some outlander came and roughed him up while we were here? We would have to intervene."

Lee didn't respond.

The server rushed in gracefully with a tea pot and a cup and set it in front of Lee, bowing as he backed out of finger reach.

Lee slowly poured a cup of tea. He rose from his seat, performed a quick yet deep bow to the server according to custom, and reseated himself. He poured a cup of tea and sipped smoothly.

He shot the tea out of mouth in a small stream. "Did you poison this?" he asked.

The server winced and shook his head.

"Oh. So you pissed in it, then."

The server backed away farther and shook his head again.

"You must have done something to make it taste like this," he said. He knocked the pot off the table in one fluid motion and reveled in the sound of it shattering. "Try again. I have nothing but time tonight, and I'm staying till I get an actual cup of tea."

As the server retreated into the kitchen, Lee looked over at the grey haired man's table. "if you want to start something here, go for it. I don't care one way or another."

As one, the three goons whipped out knives and rushed him.

* * *

><p>It was just like <em>kata<em>, in a way. There were no surprises here, just practiced motions and correct forms flowing into a martial dance.

The knife was coming at his midsection, so he grabbed the wrist and tugged his opponent into a solid kick to the trunk of the body.

An instep was flying towards his face from the left, so he took one long step backwards while bending his hips sharply, grabbed the ankle and lifted. The assailant hit the floor heavily, tailbone first.

The third was cautious and Lee was impatient, so Lee lunged forward in two steps, ducked low under a wild slash, and neatly put a backfist into his face. As the goon stepped back, stunned, Lee kicked his legs out from under him.

The first one was up now, hunched over as though to protect his battered abs. He was still holding his knife tight in a fist, so Lee roundhouse kicked him in the face.

And that was all there was to it. It didn't even cause a flashback.

* * *

><p>"That," the grey haired man said, "was very impressive."<p>

"Thank you." As Lee turned and walked back to his table, he made a point to step over the groaning forms on the floor. There was cockiness, and then there just being a prick, and deliberating trodding on fallen opponents was definitely the latter.

"What's your name, kid?"

He shrugged. "I suppose you could call me Lee."

"Alright, Lee," the man said, his wrinkled eyes twinkling. "My name's Khan, but the locals round here just call me the Head."

"The... Head?"

"Yes. As in, the Head of the Family."

Somehow, Lee heard the capitalization. "The Family... that's the name of the crew you run? These dorks?" he said, pointing to the writhing gangsters trying to get to their feet.

"Not just a crew," the Head said. "An actual family. That there is my sister's youngest, Chin, and that's my son's oldest, Pen. That's Cousin Gan who tried to kick you."

The Family was trying to get to their feet, moaning and making a production out of it. Lee waved one hand at them. "Hello, Chin, Pen, Gan. Pleased to meet you."

The one who had taken the roundhouse to the face- Lee thought he might have been Chin- cursed at him under his breath.

When the server came out with a fresh pot, it was to Lee's standards.

Lee executed another bow and drank delicately, never taking his eyes off the Head and his Family, who had managed to seat themselves by then.

He nodded to himself. "Much better, sir. It's so good, in fact, that I feel guilty that I can't actually pay for it."

"No problem," the Head said. He was smiling again, but there was no threat or mockery in it. "Wong, put this gentleman's bill on my tab, and include the cost of the broken pot, and whatever tip you feel you earned tonight."

The server bowed and scampered. He didn't seem to have recovered the power of speech yet.

"Awful generous of you," Lee commented. "Especially after that misunderstanding earlier."

"I'm sure you'll find some way to repay me," the Head said. "You see, in this little town, there's a tradition of using good stories as currency. No beggar starves around here as long as he has a bit of wit and a good memory."

"Mmm." Lee sipped his tea, no longer looking at the Family members, who were alternatively glaring at him or nudging the Head trying to get his attention. The Head ignored them.

"Where are you from, Lee?"

Lee jerked a thumb westward, down the road he'd come in on. "That-a-ways."

The Head laughed uproariously. "Oh, are you? And if I asked where you're headed, you'd just point out west across the mountains and say, 'Over there,' yeah?"

Lee winked and took another sip.

"A guy like you, I have pegged for a mercenary. You got the moves for it even if you're not."

"You're too kind."

"These days, a man who can win fights never wants for bread and wine. And yet you, who roundly whipped three fighters without even breathing hard, are so poor you can't even buy a cup of tea."

Lee sucked some spit between his front teeth and nodded. "Yep."

"Have a bit of a gambling problem? Like the poppy too much? Come on, Lee, you can tell me."

"I had a little run in earlier today. A dozen painted morons held me up. I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and chose not to make a thing of it."

The Head's mouth dropped. "You were robbed by the Gypsies?" The old gangster couldn't entirely stop a look of glee from crossing his face.

"Are the Gypsies a bunch of assholes who like to dress up as metrosexual clowns?"

The Head belted out a laugh. His Family exchanged glances with each other, and seemed to come to the conclusion that this stranger was an alright guy, after all. Their glares stopped and they started up some friendly smiles.

"Yes," the Head said. "Yes, that's them. Was that bitch Lin leading the lot that got you?"

"Never caught her name, but the leader was definitely a bitch."

"Excellent," the Head said. His voice was loud enough to be heard across the room, yet soft enough to make Lee suspect that the Head was talking to himself. "Excellent. I have a proposition for you, outlander."

"I owe you a listen, if only for your generosity earlier. Shoot."

The Head leaned forward. "The same Gypsies that robbed you, they and I have a... conflict of interests. I control a great deal of business in this little town, and they wish to boot me out and take over the town for themselves. But we're at an impasse. I can't break them, and they can't oust me. But you... you are skilled at fighting- a lot more skilled than anyone in my Family. And unemployed to boot. You see where this is going?"

Lee thought, _I have no money, no food, and no friends. My clothes are falling off my back. And those Gypsy bastards... _He nodded sharply. "How much?"

"Well now, that depends on you; what you're capable of, and how far you're willing to commit to the job."

Lee nodded, trying to emit a sense of confidence. "30 gold pieces up front just for staying in town. Tomorrow, I'll do something spectacularly violent to the Gypsies, and then you'll decide how much I'm worth. If I like the cash you offer, I'll stick around. If not, you'll have one chance to up the figure to convince me to fight for you. Like I said before... if you want to start something here, go for it. I don't care one way or another."

The sack of gold hit the floor in front of him almost before the words were out of his mouth.


	6. Yojimbo, Part Two

A quick dip in a fancy hot water tub to wash the filth and dust off; a small but excellent meal of catfish and onions to fill the hole in his stomach; a short but polite conversation with the Head prior to an exchange of good nights; Lee was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p><em>Hsu was standing upright- an unlikely feat since his right leg below the knee was a hideous testament to the power of the Fire Nation. The bones were blackened and cracked, and seemed skinnier than possible. What tendons and muscles remained were gutwrenching. A similar burn extended from the right elbow down. The skeletal fingers drummed lightly on his hip.<em>

_Hsu's forehead had a massive indentation, scooped out like a spoon._

_No sign that Hsu knew of his injuries showed on his face. He could have been standing guard at the Fire Lord's palace for all the emotion he showed._

_"Hsu," Shenzi whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."_

_"Are you really?"_

_"Yes. I should have volunteered to go, but I wanted to live. It wasn't until it was too late that I found my courage."_

_Hsu didn't say anything._

_"Hsu... If I wasn't a coward, you'd be alive right now. I never thought I could do that to a friend, but I did."_

_Hsu shrugged, impassive. "You're feeling guilty about the wrong thing, Shenzi. I went out into the danger close zone of my own free will, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. But you... you burned out."_

_"That's not my fault," Shenzi whispered. "I couldn't help it."_

_"That's a great excuse, isn't it? Hundreds of thousands of young soldiers out there fighting for their country, but to hell with them, right? You burned out, so you can't possibly serve."_

_"Hsu-"_

_For the first time, Shenzi's best friend showed emotion. Rage._

_"It must be nice, to sit out the war in some po-dunk town, ripping off petty gangsters and raking in the cash while I'm in a shallow grave on the Moki Lang!"_

_"Hsu," Shenzi sobbed, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"_

_"Whatever you say, burnout. But the fact remains, when you had the choice to run north or run south, you choose to desert." Hsu spat and pointed a scorched finger at Shenzi's face. "Divine Wind, coward. I was the Divine Wind. Why weren't you?"_

* * *

><p><em>Shenzi was chopping at the dead Earth Kingdom soldier, feeling more drained of will and energy with each terrified stroke. Almost before he could comprehend it, he had stopped his frenzied assault and was hunched over, panting, wazikashi resting in the dirt. The blood and earth mixed to form a sticky mud.<em>

_The dead body, leaking blood from dozens of holes and cuts, stood up._

_It looked Shenzi dead in the eye and snarled like a wolf._

_Shenzi screamed as its fingernails raked him, but no matter how fast he scrambled back it was always faster._

_The worst part was, the walking corpse was dressed in a filthy black _gi,_ and its right side was burned terribly._

* * *

><p>Lee woke up soaked in sweat like a fever victim, his muscles tremoring and tense. He silently relaxed his body one section at a time, just like he had learned in Jump School. He swung his legs off the bed and sat, thinking.<p>

He wasn't superstitious- he didn't think that Hsu's spirit was haunting him. The words came not from a vengeful spirit, but from Lee himself.

The only question was, were the accusations that Lee brought against himself in dreams valid?

He certainly had run away from the victorious Fire Nation army. He had no intentions of trying to reconnect with them in the future. He did intend to suck as much wealth from this town as he could pull off.

Moreover, he was still around while Hsu was dead. That was shameful, and he refused to hide from that.

He knew that somehow, he had slipped deep into dishonor without meaning to. Deserter, coward, burnout, traitor; he had never imagined he could fall so far, so fast, without noticing until it was too late.

He could fix it, though. He was a Firebender. Suicide would always be an option for him. Hell, the first three years of his instruction had been spent teaching him how _not_ to set himself on fire by accident, he could do it on purpose any time he wanted.

Lee slowly swirled his hands, conjuring small fires at the tips of his fingers and studying them carefully.

No more nightmares, no more paranoia. He wouldn't have to steep himself in dishonorable thuggery tomorrow. He wouldn't have to cudgel his mind to figure out how to survive in the Earth Kingdom.

He wouldn't be haunted by the faces of dead men.

All it would take is a simple lapse of control. One errant moment could send him to oblivion, or the Spirit world, or wherever the dead go. Just one deliberate misstep could solve everything.

He let the small fires go out.

He lowered himself back under the sheets and tried to fall asleep again. Hours later when he finally succeeded, he dreamed of fire in the sky.

* * *

><p>"Morning, Lee!"<p>

"Morning, sir."

"Ready to kick some Gypsy ass today?"

"Yep."

"What's the matter? You look a little... off."

"I'm good. Let's just go. I have some stuff to take care of before I reintroduce myself to the Gypsies."

The Head gazed at him, genuinely concerned. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Positive. Come on, daylight's wasting."

* * *

><p>It turned out the Family had a bit of an arsenal out in the hills, well away from the town and guarded 24 hours a day. When Lee asked for weapons to use, the Head had absolutely leapt at the chance to provide for him.<p>

* * *

><p>"So what can I do you for, stranger?" Uncle Gher smiled with toothless mouth. "I have swords of all kinds- <em>jians, <em>paired and single broadswords, some twohanders from the eastern Kingdoms, a couple of whalebone swords from the Watertribes, _tulwars, _whip swords-"

"I can use swords pretty well," Lee interrupted, "but they're not my weapon of choice. I actually-"

"Ah! You're more of a knife man, aren't you? I have more knives than days I've been alive, come and see!" Much to the Head's amusement, Uncle Gher jerked Lee off balance by the arm and half dragged into a nearby vault. In here, it seemed, the Family seemed to have replaced wallpaper with knives. Lee's mind could barely take in the sight.

"Alright, you got a wagonload of your basic standards knives over here. Nine inches long, single edged, generally well balanced. They're more than adequate, but a man of your ability probably would want something a little more, hah, a little more specialized. Check _this_ bad boy out." Uncle Gher plucked a knife from the wall and presented it proudly. "The Tiger Tooth. The maker studied the fangs of a half dozen of the big cats to get the shape and proportion right. Six inches long, so you're losing some range, but it will sink through most light armor like cloth. Feel the balance!" He forced the blade into Lee's hand and backed up, smiling anxiously. "Like you're not even holding anything, ain't it?"

"It's pretty good," Lee admitted. "But I'd hate to just pick the first option available."

Uncle Gher's face brightened like the sun emerging after a cloudy day. Then he rushed to the wall for the next knife.

"A western style stiletto. Just a hair over fifteen inches long, designed for stabbing only. See how there's no actual edge to it? It's the polearm of the knife world, and in the hands of a tall feller like yourself, it can probably end any fight before the other guy gets close enough to attack."

"Hmm," Lee said, weighing it. "A little heavy."

"Heavy is good, in this case. All that weight behind the point, that's money in the bank."

"What else you got?"

* * *

><p>"The punch dagger. Cup the hilt in your palm, and the blade sticks out between your fingers, see?"<p>

"That blade's like, three inches long."

"That's plenty. Besides, this here's a weapon for sneak attacks. You can hide it until you're close enough to strike. It's a good transitional weapon for people who are used to unarmed combat."

"What else you got?"

* * *

><p>"The BBK. King of knives, and knife of kings."<p>

Lee held the massive cutter gently. "What does BBK stand for?"

"Big Bloody Knife."

"Nice."

"Thirteen inches long, three inches thick. Serrated with a single edge, but you see how the top two inches on the back are sharpened? That's so you can lunge forward and drag it up against your opponent's hand on the way back."

"It's closer to being a machete than a knife, ain't it?"

"Subtlety is useful, but there's something to be said for being the biggest, baddest guy on the block."

Lee set the BBK next to the Tiger Tooth. "What else you got?"

* * *

><p>"<em>Kukri<em> knife. The weight at the tip of the blade-"

"Uncle, it's bending the wrong way."

"No, it isn't. You see, the curve of the-"

"I'm serious. Knives are supposed to curve towards the user. This one looks like it was desgned by a two year old."

"This can chop an arm off in one swing, Lee!"

"Uh-huh. What else you got?"

* * *

><p>The Head look on the proceedings as a proud father. Or possibly as an investor watching his stocks rise in value. When Lee finally chose to stick with the Tiger Tooth, the Head nodded to himself and dreamed of a world with no damned Gypsies in it.<p>

* * *

><p>"Okay," Lee said. "I have a wonderful little knife, but now it's time to get something else."<p>

"What do you have in mind?" Uncle Gher asked.

"Got anything with some range to it?"

* * *

><p>Uncle Gher did. He showed Lee several different varieties of bows, none of which interested him. He had never learned the bow. Nor did the slings and darts tempt him. It wasn't until he was shown the chakram that he perked up.<p>

Lee spun the iron ring with one finger, studying it.

"That's a good choice," Uncle Gher offered. "It's got stopping power, range and precision, and it'll puncture anything short of heavy armor. It's just if you throw it and then have to run away, you're not going to find a replacement anywhere nearby."

Lee threw the chakram up in the air smoothly and caught it. "How many of these do you have?"

"Just two."

"I'll take them. Now, as for armor- do you have anything light enough to move in, but strong enought to stop a sword?"

Uncle Gher thought hard, sorting through the inventory list in his head. "No. It's pretty much one or the other. Still, come on to the body armor room and we'll see."

Soon, Lee was outfitted with a rough-looking vest with chainmail over his centers of mass- the chest and belly, and the center of his back. There was large swathes of his torso protected only by thin leather, which offered no protection from stabbing or slashing, but he would be unlikely to receive a wound that would be _instantly_ lethal. And most important, it didn't hinder his movement.

* * *

><p>On the way back to town from the hidden Family armory, Lee asked the Head, "Do I dare ask why you need enough weapons to outfit a brigade? You could arm your whole Family ten times over with that lot."<p>

The Head smirked, and tapped his bent nose. "In these times of violence and unrest, there is always a market for arms. I buy low after the major battles when the market is glutted with swords and spears, then sell it high to, well, everyone. Local militias trying to get something better than plows and scythes. Guerillas who want to fight the Fire Nation. Farmers looking for a sword to defend their stead from bandits and thieves."

"I see."

"That lot you saw in there? Half of it will be liquidated by Saturday, and be replaced by new swords and spears and bows. Arms sales are just about the only thing the damn Gypsies can't disrupt or compete against me in," the Head said bitterly. "Opium, smuggled goods, extortion. They're moving in against me all across the board."

Lee suddenly understood that the locals were largely incidental to the gang war. There was no wealth here to be stolen. It was the location that mattered. This was just about the only place where wagons could cross the mountains, unless one wanted to hike thirty miles south and risk passing through the Great Divide. The crime lord who owned this town controlled everything passing from east to west, and stood to make a fortune if a monopoly was established. The only value the town itself held was the poppies that grew wild all around, which could be processed into opium.

No wonder the Head was willing to shell out thirty gold pieces and some hardware to a random stranger just for a demonstration. If Lee broke the Gypsies for him, the Family would recoup that gold in the first hour of business.

They were going to pay through the _nose_ for his services, he decided.

* * *

><p>"When the Gypsies were harassing me," Lee said, "there was this one guy in particular I hated. Earthbender, lousy little goatee, big orange pants. Sound like anyone you know?"<p>

"Chen," the Head said at once. "Little rat bastard that he is. He's Lin's second in command."

"Not for long," Lee said. "He's going to be my demonstration. Where does he hang out?"

There were several opium dens in town, frequented only by the gangs and passers-through. They were all controlled by one crew or the other, and guarded at all times.

Chen was an addict, and he had regular habits. The Head fingered the establishment where the second in command of the Gypsies practically lived.

_You know precisely where an enemy officer is and you haven't moved on him yet,_ Lee thought. _Sacred bleeding flames, you need me. _He mentally upped his price by ten percent. He didn't know what he'd be charging, but whatever it ended up being would be nothing compared to what Lee could do for the Family.

* * *

><p>Hours later, just before sunset, Lee returned to the Head's house.<p>

The Head greeted him at the door.

"Well?" he asked.

Lee held up the Tiger Tooth, smeared to the hilt with blood.

"Chen's?"

Lee nodded. "I made a point not to clean it just so I could show you."

* * *

><p>Hours earlier, just before noon, Lee kicked in the doors Chen's den and started to search room to room.<p>

Servants fled his one man assault. A few Gypsies tried to interfere, and Lee beat them bloody, and where he had the time he booted their stomachs and spines while they were down. As a bizarre test of his own skill, he endeavored to leave each attacker hurting but uninjured.

And he succeeded. Every Gypsy guard who fell before him was back on his or her feet within hours. Sore, perhaps, but combat ready.

Thirty gold pieces bought only one death, Lee figured. No need to give away violence for free.

Lee kicked in doors systematically, searched for the goatee sporting bastard.

The fourth door he broke revealed Chen laid out on a pillow, exploring other, wilder worlds found only in an opium pipe.

Lee slipped the Tiger Tooth from its little sheath.

* * *

><p>The Head giggled and clasped his hands. He grabbed Lee's shoulders and dragged him in close for a embrace. Lee grunted as the wind was crushed out of him.<p>

"Lee, or whatever your real name is," he said. "You may be the greatest thing that ever happened to us. Sent by the spirits, you were, my lad! Yes, indeed. You will not find the Family ungrateful!"

"Speaking of which," Lee said. "This is where you name a number."

The Head thought hard, grey eyebrows narrowed. Lee could almost read his thoughts: _How cheap can I get and still have this outlander do my dirty work?_

* * *

><p>It took a surprisingly long time for Lee to act, once he had Chen at his mercy.<p>

There was a certain question of honor. Warriors do not slay the helpless- this is why no matter how much poisonous hatred the war brewed, the Fire Nation always took prisoners. You don't kill after the other guy surrenders. No exceptions.

Chen was high, and not surrendering- did that count? He was equally defenseless either way. But since when did that become a factor? As a soldier, he had always tried to strike the enemy at times and places that left them defenseless. Wasn't this the same thing?

Lee had never had to consider this before. There had always been sergeants and lieutenants and captains over him to spell out what was acceptable. Now it looked like he'd have to invent his own rules of engagement.

He _could_ choose not to have rules. Kill whom he wished, steal what he wanted, torture people he didn't like. The idea that there was no one to stop him from becoming a monster was a sobering thought.

_It's all arbitrary_, he thought. _Whatever I choose, it'll rest purely on my say-so. The Laws I was taught, were they just as slapdash?_

Chen smiled lazily, drooling into his goatee. He said something in a high, lilting tone and slurred his words so much that Lee couldn't understand it. Judging by the fact that it rhymed, he guessed it was a song or poem.

_Alright_, he thought. _Here's some rules of engagement for you. There are, as of now, only two types of people in the world:_

_Marks- people I can gouge profit out of of._

_Threats- people who are able to harm me._

He allowed for a theoretical third category (_Allies- people who I can team up with to help fleece the marks and fight the threats_), but he considered it unlikely.

So. Since Chen could fit either of those categories, there was no doubt at all as to what to do.

Lee positioned himself behind Chen, who followed his movements with numb eyes and no alarm. He slid his new knife into Chen's cartoid artery, wiggled it sharply, and stepped back to avoid the rush of blood.

* * *

><p>"300 gold pieces," the Head offered, looking anxious. He wasn't sure if he had gone too low, alienating his new mercenary, or too high, gouging himself.<p>

"Deal."

Lee stuck out his hand and the Head shook it firmly with both palms.

* * *

><p>What Lee saw when he exited the opium den scared him more than he would ever admit.<p>

Gypsies. 20 of them. Swords, clubs, and knives in abundance. The servants he had ignored on his rampage through the building had fetched reinforcements. They certainly couldn't save Chen in time, but they could avenge him.

At the head of the gang, dressed in kidskin trousers and a white silk blouse, was Lin.

She did not look pleased.

* * *

><p>One thing that Lee had learned in his previous life as Shenzi was this- battles are not decided by numbers. War is a struggle between two players straining to break the other. The personalities and neuroses of the players were what decided the fight. Usually, those players were kings or generals. Here, they were Lee and Lin.<p>

Lee didn't want a confrontation. He had to respect the fact that he was badly outnumbered, and moreover, even if he won he'd still lose. The Head would decide not to hire him if only threat to his power had been destroyed in one street fight. There was literally no way to come out ahead here.

On the other hand, Lin had to respect the fact that this outlander had beaten half a dozen Gypsies in minutes, was brandishing a bloody knife, had two chakram hanging around his neck, and wasn't backing off despite the odds.

Both sides waited uneasily for the other to start something.

Finally, Lin observed, "Your knife's got red on it, you know."

Lee nodded neutrally. "Yep."

"Who's?"

Lee decided to rely on bravado. He thought back to the last night he spent with Hsu, right before the Jump, and tried to conjure the arrogance he had radiated. He did his best Jeong Jeong impression: "Your second. You'll be needing to replace him, but that should have been on your to-do list anyway. The man was a useless addict. He didn't even put up a fight."

Lin's eyes twisted into a baleful glare. "Take him."

The Gypsies advanced. Some came cautiously, lightly, like duellists looking for an opening. Others strolled, taking their time and showing that they weren't afraid. The rest packed in behind, trying to stay behind the bolder ones.

Lee's mind raced. He tossed the knife to his left hand, swept a chakram off his neck. He cocked his arm back and shouted, "Last mistake you'll ever make!"

And this, as expected, halted everything.

It didn't _solve_ anything, but it put it off.

* * *

><p>"By the way," the Head said. His voice was a little too casual to trust. "Word on the street is that the Gypsies brought in a heavy hitter of their own."<p>

"What?"

"I received word from my agents right before you arrived. Lin has hired a mercenary. A very dangerous customer who gave his name as Shade." Now that he was looking for it, Lee could read the tension on his face

"I've heard of him," Lee said. His mouth was set in a grim line. "He earned himself a reputation on the western front. He'd sneak across enemy lines and hunt Firebenders. His specialty was psychological warfare."

The Head frowned. "What's that?"

"One story about him is, one night he infiltrated a Fire Nation camp well behind the lines, where they thought they were safe. He didn't harm the sentries, and they didn't notice a thing, but... that morning, they Fire Nation soldiers woke up to find a bloody mess every third cot."

"_What?_"

"You heard. The sick son of a bitch killed every third man silently. Just to screw with their minds."

The Head groaned.

"If he's working for Lin, prepare to start losing guys left and right."

"You have to kill him!" The Head grabbed Lee shoulders and shook him. He was close to shouting now. "You have to! He could ruin everything!"

"300 gold pieces is fine for beating the crap out of unskilled thugs," Lee said. "Taking on Shade the Blade is another story."

"Name your price!"

* * *

><p>Lin tossed her hair, catching sunlight and glittering. She must have woven jewels into her locks. She tapped an irritable finger against her thigh. "So now what?"<p>

Lee winked. "Same plan I had before. Now I walk away scot free after killing Chen while you stand there looking pissed."

Lin didn't say anything for a while. She just stood still, back straight, and her soft brown eyes focused on Lee. Not Lee's knife or chakram, but Lee himself.

Lee deliberately showed no weakness or fear at all.

Lin said, "I know you. You're the kid we held up yesterday."

Lee wiggled his chakram. "Except now I'm armed and ready for you, darling. It's my turn."

Lin nodded absently to herself. Then she said what might have been the last thing he was expecting:

"What do you want more, vengeance or money?"

"Er... what?"

"It's your lucky day, outlander," she said. She winked. "I'm in the market for a fellow who can fight like you."

"Are you really."

"Ever heard of a gang called the Family?"

Lee didn't think about his answer twice. "Nope."

* * *

><p>The results-<p>

Lin would give him 100 gold pieces as a retainer, and an additional 1,000 when the Family was broken.

Lee gave his name as Shade. He picked it because it sounded mysterious and deadly, which was the image he wanted fixed in peoples' minds.

Some of the Gypsies protested hiring Chen's murderer. Shade indicated that he would be equally happy to revert to vengeance if the deal was off. The protesters slinked away shyly.

He instructed Lin to put the word out that she had hired a deadly operator. Have her Gypsies visits the taverns and markets and boast that the gang war was coming to an end. He wanted the Head good and scared.

* * *

><p>Lee tasted the Head's desperation and savored it. "800," he said.<p>

"800?"

Lee nodded.

"Well, I mean... we're talking about a considerable amount of-"

"Risk?" Lee suggested. "A considerable amount of risk, that's what you were going to say? Because we both know you'll hole up in some safe house while I hunt the greatest killer the war has ever produced. 800, and that's cheap at twice the price."

The Head reluctantly agreed.

He was so unnerved that he agreed to pay half in advance.

* * *

><p>Shade wished he had known rackets like this existed. He would have gotten in on it years ago.<p> 


	7. Yojimbo, Part Three

A/N: Apologies for delayed update. Real life was kicking my ass, and I had a healthy case of writer's block as well.

* * *

><p>It started out subtle. Lee wasn't sure how long he could keep the balls in the air, but he wanted to build a crescendo of violence that would climax with him leaving the town with more gold than he could ever spend and no enemies left behind to pursue.<p>

He stalked Cousin Gan on his daily route of terrorizing shopkeepers and the farmers bringing their extra produce into the market. When Cousin Gan left the market at noon, a smirk on his face and silvers in his purse, Lee followed him to his house. He spent a few hours poking around the surrounding terrain, looking for potential entry points and escape routes.

That night, Lee evaded Gan's guards and drowned him in his own bath. He swiped the money the Family man had collected and went off into the night.

* * *

><p>The next morning Head was staring down into the bath at Cousin Gan. Cousin Gan was too busy staring at the bamboo floor of the tub to look back. His feet bumped softly into the sides, and his arms were spread-eagled in the cold water. Lee couldn't help but remember another enemy that died in the water, but the comparison didn't bother him at all.<p>

"Maybe it was a genuine accident," the Head said.

Lee stood stoically in the corner.

"It's entirely possible that Gan slipped and hit his head. It happens," he continued hopefully.

"Yep," Lee said. "It's possible. Mere hours after Lin hires a professional assassin, a Family member ends up dead. But you're right- I might be giving credit where it ain't due."

The Head cursed quietly.

"It's just like you said," he said. "We're being hunted."

Lee didn't say anything.

"I don't understand." The Head's normally robust voice was weak now. His iron grey hair now seemed lank and wispy, like that of an old man's. "He had two guards assigned to him at all times. How on earth did this Shade get in at all?"

"Probably over the wall. He could just throw a blanket or something over the spikes on the top and crawl over. Killing men who think their safe... that's how he gets off. He's honed manhunting to an art," Lee said. "I'm just surprised he didn't use a blade."

The Head shuddered. "I remember when Gan was this tall," he said, putting a hand at knee height. "He was a real wild child, always ready for a fight."

_And yet he wasn't too good at it,_ Lee thought.

"And now Shade just..." The Head fixed his eyes on Lee. "Kill him, Lee. And do it quick. If you kill Shade within 48 hours, I'll double your fee."

"I'll have to be careful," Lee whispered. Whispering seemed far more dramatic to him. "If he gets even an inkling that I'm hunting him..."

"In your own words, you're being paid to take the risks." All weakness had been covered up by now. He was the same iron gangster that had hired him in the tea shop two nights ago. "Go out and do it."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

><p>That afternoon, he talked to some locals.<p>

No one seemed to want to speak to him, but none refused. He speculated that word of the escalation of the gang war had reached their ears. Anyone they didn't know by sight was likely to be either the family's pet mercenary or Shade the Blade.

He wouldn't be popular within anyone not affiliated with the gangs, but no one would be aiming to cross him either.

He made inquiries as to who ran the apocathary in town.

Lee paid handsomely to ensure the healer's silence, and assured her that he would do horrible things if she told anyone he had dropped by.

_Stick and carrot_, he thought as he left.

* * *

><p>Lee walked into a Gypsy stronghold and asked after Lin.<p>

The two guards said she was out.

"Tell her, one down. Cousin Gan died last night by my hand."

One of them, a chubby man with a hideous neck beard and purple robes, snorted. "Why bother reporting that? One guy gets knocked off, so what? There's a whole clan of them."

The other guard, a young woman dressed in four pastel dresses of varying lengths, nodded her agreement. "Shade, man... Not meaning any disrespect, of course... but it's a drop in the bucket. Come back when, like, a whole slew of them are dead."

Lee nodded his agreement and smiled ruefully. "I know. I just would like my employer to know that she's getting her money's worth. Say, what's that you're drinking?"

It looked like a comfy set up they had- spending four hours sitting around drinking tea and gossiping. It reminded Lee of the distantly remembered days of pulling fire guard shifts on the northern seas.

The woman lifted the teapot they had on the table between them and smiled. "Cinnamon Jade. Imported all the way from Katman Sho."

"Smells wonderful. Mind if I join you? Here, let me be a proper guest and serve you both a cuppa."

* * *

><p>Before midnight was passed, the fat man with the neck beard and the young woman were puking everything they'd eaten that day and running fevers of 108 degrees. They would be dead by morning. There is a reason why those familiar with herbal lore warned against administering the Grey Thistle to anyone not suffering from blood infections.<p>

* * *

><p>While the two Gypsy guard were suffering, Lee went out hunting. He found two Family members leaving an opium den, high as kites. Despite the Head's warnings of an enemy on the prowl, their guards were down. He drew the Tiger Tooth and savaged them.<p>

* * *

><p>"You failed."<p>

"The task was not possible, sir."

"Does that help them? Eh?" The Head was pointing at the two almost unrecognizable bodies. Family members had taken up stations at both ends of the alley to make sure they were not disturbed. Passers-by tried to steal glances at the carnage but were roughly shoved away by irate and frightened thugs.

Lee considered the question. "No. But I am making some progress."

"_Oh?_"

"I staked out a Gypsy stronghold last night. No one suspicious came or went all night."

"So?"

"So according to what you've told me, there's only three major houses that the Gypsies control. I've eliminated a third of them. Tomorrow I'll stake out another and wait and see. If there's another attack and I see nothing, then I'll know where Shade's lair is and take action."

The Head glared. Lee was reminded that the old gangster outweighed him by at least 50 pounds, little of it fat, and had likely been killing people since long before he had been born.

"That's all well and good," the Head ground out. "Except what if Shade is switching around his hiding spot? Never resting his head twice in the same location."

Lee shook his head. "Makes no since. He would only be that paranoid if he knew I was hunting him, and I haven't made any move yet. Far more likely that he's in one building he can always return to."

The Head paled.

"What?" Lee asked.

"Erm... Before I found out about Shade, I, erm..."

"_What the hell do you do?_"

The Head moaned. "I made put word out that I had hired you. Everyone in town knows that I have a mercenary on tap now. I wanted the Gypsies running scared. Shade knows about you, Lee."

Lee did a credible imitation of tightly controlled panic. "Oh, shit," he whispered. "Oh, spirits preserve me."

"I'm sorry."

"Not half as sorry as I'll be." Lee shook his head as if to clear it. "An extra 300 gold pieces. In advance."

"But-"

"No buts. It's a fee. A 'you-just-put-my-life-in-danger-for-no-reason" fee. Alright." Lee pretended to think for a moment. "I need to rethink my strategy. I'll be off, don't look for me. When I come back, have that money waiting for me."

* * *

><p>Lee walked east out of town for twenty minutes. At the first bend in the road, he skipped off into the treeline and hunkered down, keeping an eye out for anyone shadowing him.<p>

A Family member sent to keep tabs on him. A Gypsy who wanted revenge for Chen. A Fire Nation agent who might have recognized him as Shenzi.

After a half hour of ceaseless watch, he was convinced that he hadn't picked up a tail. He cleared a small section of forest of dead wood and stones and plopped down. The day was warm and drowsy, and he had been spending his nights hunting people. He sank contentedly into sleep.

* * *

><p>He dreamed, as always. But this time there was no horror or fear. He dreamed of Kazuo, of Hsu, of Jeong Jeong and Leng. He dreamed of the day he got a his draft notice, and how he'd longed to prove himself in foreign lands. He dreamed of his first battles in the north, and then of the moment of serenity he experienced right before he Jumped into the Moki Lang.<p>

By the time he awoke, however, he couldn't remember any of it.

Not on the surface of his mind, anyway.

* * *

><p>"Head," Lee said. "I have news."<p>

It was a sign of the old gangster's paranoia that he woke in a panic, sure he would be sent to his ancestors by Shade. It was a sign of his trust that he calmed down when he saw it was only Lee visiting him through guarded walls.

"What is it?"

"The Gyspsies are bringing in a cartload of bows tomorrow."

The Head was still half-asleep. "So? This is news?"

"You better believe it, sir. Wake up, now," he commanded. He put just the smallest inflection of fear and tension in his voice.

The Head woke up and listened hard.

"It must be Shade's doing," Lee continued. "He knows I'm on the prowl, so he'll want to stack the odds in his favor."

"What do you mean?"

"Imagine a world where every rooftop has a Gypsy archer on it. As long as he stays in the city limits, any move made by us will be shot down. We need to stop that cart from coming in, Head. And I can't do it alone."

* * *

><p>The Head supplied the ambush- twenty of the Family's best and boldest. Lee provided the targets- he went to Lin and told her that he had spotted ten Family men lurking around the eastern gate. So she sent twenty men as well.<p>

During the resulting clash, the Family had three slain and five wounded. The Gypsies had ten slain and three wounded. The Family had been getting the worst of his attention recently, and Lee wanted to even things up a little.

Unseen by any, Lee had practiced his chakram throwing skills from the Gypsies' rear. When a Gypsy showed skill or courage, he or she became a target. Lee only had two shots, but he made them count, and the Family men did the rest.

Lee even had the foresight to purchase three carts of firewood to stand in for the imaginary bows. These he burned before the Family could inspect them.

On his way back to the Head, he sang a jaunty air he had learned in Jump School:

"Chong's mom told him not to go downtown,  
>She knew that recruiter was hanging around.<br>But Chong loved his country so he went anyway,  
>And joined the army the very next day..."<p>

The rest of the lyrics were dangerous to sing aloud, as they were about how Chong died saving his comrades from an Earth Kingdom ambush, but he sang them on the inside.

* * *

><p>Over the course of the next three days, the Family lost three more men. One was garroted in the privacy of his own home, one found on the outskirts of town with her neck broken, and one stabbed to death in a public bath controlled by the Family.<p>

Lee thought that it must be like riddles. The answer was blindingly obvious, provided you already knew it. They see their relatives struck down in places of safety, and they immediately assumed that Shade must be a master of disguise, or can walk through walls, or something.

There was no need to walk through walls when you could just knock on the door and ask to talk privately. Then once their back was turned...

The same thing for the niece with the crooked neck. They might wonder what she was doing in such a place, and how Shade knew she would be there. Had that psycho been stalking her, waiting for a chance?

No, Lee said to himself. I asked her to meet me there. Simple as breathing.

Over the same three days, the Gypsies lost three people as well. One was dragged screaming from his bed by Family men and lynched- all Lee needed to do was give the Head the address and a time to show up. Two others died of the same cure that did for the fat one with the neckbeard and the young woman.

Lee decided it was time to get some sleep again. It had been a hectic three days.

* * *

><p>Same routine as last time. Lee crossed the bend of the road and watched for anyone following. He waited fifteen minutes before collapsing into sleep.<p>

When he awoke, there was a woman watching him.

First, he panicked. There was no way to tell how long she'd been watching him, as he lay inert and defenseless.

Then, he calmed down and heard her out.

* * *

><p>"You're the one they call Lee, yes?"<p>

He said nothing. When some people wished to convey a threat, they would brandish a sword like they were holding back the urge to strike, or caresss their knives, or menacingly grip their hilts.

She had a sword at her hip. She never touched it, but the threat was there nonetheless.

"I am."_ I can dodge left, lose her in the trees. If she can't keep up, problem solved. If she catches up, well, she doesn't know I'm a Firebender. And we're all alone out here._

She quirked the corner of her mouth up. She had a plain face- no great beauty had nature given her, and she made no effort to improve what she had. "You've been targeting the Family and the Gypsies." It was not a question.

_Or is she alone? _he wondered. _Would she really confront me without back-up? Plenty of hiding spaces nearby._

"I stand mute," he said. "What I do is my business, not yours."

"Not an accusation," she replied. "A statement of fact, Lee."

And then came an awful silence as she stared at him, and he stared back. He struggled to think of something to say, but all he could think of was the fact that her sword was a lot longer than his Tiger tooth, and that if she had brought friends then Firebending would get him lynched.

He jumped a little when she spoke at at last, her voice harsh and flat and commanding. "You will leave town by tomorrow at dawn. You will not slay anybody else. You will contact neither the Head nor Lin. You will just... disappear. Do you understand me?"

"I comprehend you prefectly."

She snarled, so much like a wild animal that his hand leapt for the knife before he knew it. He dragged his unwilling fingers away from the knife's handle when he saw she wasn't attacking.

"You know nothing, outlander. I know what was going through your head when you saw this town. Two stupid gangs at each other's throats, ripe for the picking. So you saw an angle and chiseled a nice little profit for yourself. Then you saw you could double your earnings by burning the candle at boths ends. Well done, you. But you never stopped to think about what consequences of what you were doing."

Lee frowned.

"What do you... wait, what?"

She pivoted one foot across the ground and hammered her fist into a thick, gnarled trunk. The ground itself twisted and surged, driving up into the tree's roots. The tree must have been five feet thick, fifty feet tall. And it noisily collapsed in mere seconds.

Earthbender. Even if she was alone, Firebending might not save him.

She continued speaking, each word spat out angrily. "New Doujak is placed perfectly for smugglers and traders alike. That means that a river of gold and silver flows through it. Gold and silver means power. Power means competitors."

"Okay," he said.

"The Family and the Gypsies are lowlives. Weaklings. Idiots. We're moving in, and that right soon."

"We?"

"The Omashu Yakuza. We have had our eye on this place for years, we refuse to let some outlander screw it up for us."

"But I was attacking both sides equally. How did I-"

"_You were causing chaos!_" she screamed. Her finger curled into claws while her eyelids flared wide open, and all Lee could think of was that she had crazy eyes. "Chaos is unpredictable," she said, and now she was calm as summer rain. "Anything could happen now. Maybe one gang will establish hegemony over New Doujak. Maybe that gang will be strong enough to fend us off. Maybe you should cash in your winnings now, while you're still ahead, and while you have a head."

"Alright," Lee heard himself say. "Dawn tomorrow. May we never meet again."

She turned on her heel and strode off towards the road.

_At least I know what this town's called now. And how did she find me? And more importantly- how did she track my movements?_

Uneasy now, he wondered if anyone else had found him out.

* * *

><p>When he got to the road himself, a massive man with an immense white beard was waiting for him. The man was leaning idly on a woodcutter's axe.<p>

The blade looked newly sharpened.

* * *

><p>"I hope you had a pleasant rest, sir."<p>

"Well enough." He peered curiously at the man. He had the physique of a platypus bear, and had a vaguely military bearing. "Though I rarely entertain visitors so early in the day."

"You'll make an exception for me, I trust." The man seemed confident enough.

"But of course. Speak away, friend."

"Not meaning to be rude or nothing, sir, but me and my friends, we want you gone, and that's as plain as I can make it."

"Oh?" Lee said neutrally.

"You been causing trouble in our little town. Bodies turning up left and right, open brawls on the streets and all. What kind of environment are you setting up for my kids to live in?"

"Kids? You and your, ah, friends are villagers then?"

"Indeed, sir. I am the unlucky fellow voted in as the Mayor of New Doujak." He rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders." As such, I intend to rid us of these thieves and thugs that plague our streets and corrupt our youth, if you follow me, sir."

"Not sure if I do, actually. You're what, a new rival gang?"

The man's beard bristled with indignation and he gripped his axe handle menacingly. "We are not, sir! We are peaceful folk here, by inclination, but more than ready to bear arms to secure our families' safety. We're not after gold, or power, or any of that rubbish."

"Just quiet streets and no outlanders stirring up the gangs."

"No gangs either, but that's ours to worry about."

"But I'm helping you, then. I'm terrorizing the gangs, aren't I?"

The massive man shook his head. "Son, let me tell you something. When I was your age, I was no mercenary strong arm like you. I was just a soldier with a helmet that was too big, armor that was too small, and a spear made of green wood that snapped the first time I went to battle. When I came home again, I was a First Sergeant with a battle record as long as my arm. Know why?"

"Er..."

" 'Cause every time I fight, I win," he said simply. "Now, sometimes you win by being stronger than the enemy. Sometimes by being sneakier, smarter, or what have you. So when I take the fight to the Family and the Gypsies, I don't intend spoil my record. But I'm _smart_ enough to know that I ain't _strong_ enough to beat the gangs if they're walking around with their guards up all the time. They all think that Shade the Blade's a-coming for them, or that a pack of Family men will be dragging them off for a hanging, so what chance do untrained civilians have of catching them with their trousers down? You see how that works?"

Lee sighed. "I believe so."

"So you'll be leaving, sir. Tomorrow, ideally. And once the gangs settle back down into coexistence again, the revolution will come." The man hefted his axe onto his shoulder and nodded to himself in satisfaction.

"I reckon I'll be gone by dawn anyway."

"Just as well, sir. Ugly business, this'll be. Lots of wicked men to be lined up against the wall. No place at all for a young lad like yourself."

* * *

><p>He was half way back to town when a pair of strong hands seized his wrists, and another pair his ankles.<p>

The hands were made of stone, and weren't attached to anybody.

He thought to himself, as they dragged him unceremoniously into the forest, _Yes, alright, I get it. Leave town tomorrow. For the love of..._

* * *

><p>There were three of them. Dai Li agents, dressed in dark green robes and yellow hats. Lee had never seen one before, but he had heard enough tales to recognize them on sight.<p>

"Let me guess," he told them. "You want me gone."

They nodded in unison. Lee wondered how they had coordinated that.

"By, say, tomorrow?"

They nodded again.

The one in the center hissed, "New Doujak is an information superhighway. The Dai Li have come to rely on the stalement between the Gypsies and the Family to maintain our freedom of movement. We-"

"I don't need the back story, honestly. I'm here today, gone tomorrow, alright?"

They nodded. The one in the middle looked a little irritated.

"Of course," Lee said, "it would be a lot easier to leave town if my hands and feet weren't pinned to solid rock by your rock hands."

* * *

><p>Lee decided to be proactive and leave that night instead. He collected up his loot, grabbed his newly acquired weapons, and skipped town.<p>

As he trudged down the road, he said aloud, "The Earth Kingdom is out and out _insane_."

Still, he had a profit of almost one thousand gold pieces for less than a week's work. He was sure he could find more opportunities in a big city like Omashu.

More opportunities, and hopefully less _factions_.


	8. The Finder of Lost Children

About half a mile from Omashu's front gate, Lee ditched his armor. It was a raggedy piece of equipment, and thus far he had gotten no use from it. Besides, he figured that he'd have an easier time at the gate if he wasn't dressed like a ruffian. There was nothing he could do about the travel stained clothes the Head had provided him, but he could at least _try _not to look like he was looking for a fight.

On a whim, he carved the words, "FREE ARMOR" into a tree above where he laid it down.

He trudged into Omashu with his Tiger Tooth, the clothes on his back, and a sturdy pack containing his two chakrams and a healthy chunk of New Doujak's gold.

* * *

><p>He had arrived early in the morning, bypassing the guards at Omashu's only gate with a friendly smile (and pair of silver coins once they'd started making some noise about kicking out refugees), and had intended to find a place to stay immediately- a low rent apartment, ideally. But the city was so intricate and ponderous that Lee has spent his whole first day wandering the lower levels of Omashu with wide eyes and a craned neck. He had heard that the famous Earth Kingdom bastion had been built on a mountain, but this did not give the scope of it. The place was massive, enormous, awe-inspiring. There had to be thousands of stone buildings here, elaborately designed rooftops, raised over twenty stories through what had to have been advanced Earthbending.<p>

He had been raised to believe that Earth, Water, and Air were degraded perversions of the true art of Firebending, and that ingrained belief was being slowly and steadily smashed to pieces by the majesty and glorious design of Omashu.

The delivery system, for instance. He had staked out one platform for twenty minutes and watched three Earthbenders slow down carts of tomatoes, carrots, and cabbages that had been slid down from the upper levels, and they would shift them onto the lateral chute to arc around the lowest rings to the unnumbered markets that seemed to pop up once every hundred yards. Lee couldn't imagine the amount of planning, talent, and creativity it would take to set something like this up.

He wandered in and out of the markets, awe-struck. It seemed that every good and service under the sun could by found in Omashu somewhere.

Here was an arms market, finding its niche in serving Omashu soldiers and mercenaries. Smiths competed to sharpen swords and spear heads; tailors bellowed out that they could sew up torn uniforms and repair boots. There was even a shop with a line of nervous young soldiers standing outside the door- unusually, it had no sign displaying its wares. Lee theorized that it was where the "surplus" army stores ended up. If you lost an inspectable piece of equipment, you could go to this black market. They'd gouge you for the replacement, but it would be cheaper than coming up on charges.

Here was a produce market, but Lee only recognized half the fruits and vegetables. Merchants must come from half the continent to sell their goods. He bought half a dozen unidentified green peppers the size of his thumbnail- he knew that the smaller the peppers was, the hotter it would burn. He popped two in his mouth to suck on as he continued to wander, sticking the others in his pants pocket.

Here was a long, narrow road selling ancient scrolls, modern books, scientific treatises, and in the some of the shabbier stores down at the end of the street, pornography.

Here was the entertainment district- two dozen taverns and dance halls and tea rooms, all trying to outdo the others in class and sophistication.

It wasn't until the sun went down and the throngs of consumers started thinning that Lee realized he hadn't looked for a place to sleep. Also, somehow he'd forgotten to eat anything but the peppers.

Mentally, Lee slapped himself upside the head.

He turned on his heel and backtracked. He vaguely remembered seeing an inn back near the street with the books.

* * *

><p>"Please, wait! Please!"<p>

Lee spun around, fingers clawing for his Tiger Tooth. He quickly and casually shifted the motion into scratching his side, seeing that it was just a beggar woman cradling a baby wrapped in dull, colored rags.

Something about walking down darkened city streets put him on edge. He had noticed this tendency back in New Doujak, but had attributed it to the fact that he was constantly surrounded by targets and enemies. It seemed now to be the shadows of the looming buildings, the unexpected openings into alleys and side streets that he hadn't seen, the lack of situational awareness.

Her face was deeply lined with worry and grey with exhaustion, giving the impression of old age, but Lee judged her to be no more than 25. 30, at most. A woman made ancient before her time

He flashed a friendly smile at her. "Yes, ma'am?"

"Please, could you spare coin for us? We haven't eaten in days." Her voice cracked near the end.

Lee dug into a his coat pocket where he kept his silvers. The baby squawled suddenly, and the woman immediately soothed it, half turning as though to block Lee from the child's line of sight. He took his hand out of his pocket and dug into his swag bag to take out two golds.

He held up the thick coins to the beggar woman, but she was concentrating on her child. He whistled cheerily. When she looked up, he tossed them gently, one at a time.

Her face seemed to collapse as she caught them one handed, as though she had set down a heavy burden for the first time in years.

"Thank you, thank you so much-" Her voice caught as she examined the coins. "Gold?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Gold," she repeated softly. Her baby started crying again. She hushed it gently. "Thank you, sir. It's... I mean-"

"Don't mention. I came in to a bit of money recently, I can afford generosity. On a completely different subject, do you know where that inn is?"

"What?"

"I know there's an inn around here somewhere, I saw it earlier. It had a, uh, some kind of bird on the sign and it's near the book stores."

"You must be thinking of the Eagle and Child."

"Sure, why not. I wouldn't know one way or another, I'm a stranger around here."

"It's a half mile west of here, down Roo Street."

"Are you fu- are you kidding me?"

The woman shook her head apologetically.

Lee gripped his forehead in one hand, fuming. He was a Jumper, damn it, he was trained in pathfinding. Retracing his steps should have _worked_. "Must have been around Ko Shu Street I got turned around," he said aloud. "I wasn't quite sure where I came off it the first time I passed it. Damn it." He nodded his thanks and started to walk off, trying to remember where Roo Street was.

"I can show you where it is if you want," the beggar woman said shyly.

"Oh, would you? This town's a maze."

"It the least I could do for gold." She shifted her child to her other side and smiled.

Lee smiled back. "If you have nowhere better to be, then by all means lead the way, ma'am."

* * *

><p>When they reached the doors of the Eagle and Child (or the Bird and Baby, as the locals nicknamed it), Lee slipped out another gold and gave it to his guide. She bowed and started to walk off, until Lee called her back.<p>

"If you don't mind me asking, and I don't mean no offense by it, do you have a place to stay tonight?"

"We'll find somewhere. We always do." The woman smiled sadly and turned to walk away again.

"You can stay with me if you want," Lee said. "I mean, an inn this size, there's gotta be a room big enough for three."

The woman stood silent for a beat, then said "I'm very sorry to have misled you, but I'm, er, I'm not on the market."

"Oh, no, no, I mean-"

"I'm grateful, gods know, but-"

"I just meant-"

"If you want that last gold back-"

"I just don't much like the thought of you and the little one out on the streets. If you need a roof over your heads, this one's an option, that's all I meant."

"I thank you again, for all you've done for us. But we'll be fine. Especially with a windfall like this," she said, holding up the hand with three gold coins. She had them clenched tight, and hadn't lessened her grip since she found out they weren't coppers.

"Alright. Well, you take care now."

"Thank you again."

"Good night."

* * *

><p>Later on that night, stretched out on his bed and his belly filled with good food, he closed his eyes and reflected on the beggar woman. It had been good, helping her. He had left home at too young an age to have done anything, and in the army he had just obeyed orders and gone through the motions until the burnout at the Moki Lang. Since then, he had steeped himself in blood, and stained his honor with greed and betrayal.<p>

All his life, he had never decided for himself what kind of man he was. His family and friends back home had required him to be a good student and a model son, and he had conformed. The Fire Nation had required him to be a dedicated tool of war, and he had conformed. In New Doujak, desperation and his own undisciplined rage had required him to be a knife in the dark, and he had conformed to that as well.

Now, Lee was in a city where he had no known history. He had more than enough money and no enemies. Maybe here he could be a decent human being.

When he fell asleep, he was back at the Moki Lang watching Hsu burn. Just before the first rays of dawn entered his window, he was being beaten to death by the man with ropes on his arms.

* * *

><p>When his eyes snapped open the next morning, the beggar woman was sitting on the rug that covered the floor between the bed and the door. Except now she was dressed in loose, rugged grey pants of good quality, and a beaten up leather vest over a silken shirt dyed grey as well. Her hair was done up in a pony tail. The worry lines were gone, replaced by a friendly, mocking grin.<p>

"Morning, sunshine," she said, rising to her feet

He stared. He thought. Nothing coherent came up.

"Where's the little one?" It sounded stupid even as it came out of his mouth.

She laughed. "Want to see a neat trick?" As she continued smiling, the unmistakable sound of an infant crying came from her direction. Lee's eyes zeroed in on her throat. He could just make out the vocal cords shifting under the skin, and when he looked closer at her mouth he saw that her lips were moving almost imperceptively.

"Son of a _bitch_," he said.

She nodded proudly. "I ate my 'little one' for dinner last night. I'm partial to sourdough bread."

"I'm afraid you're going to need to to give me a whole lot of context before I can even begin to figure out what's happening here."

"Come on, let's go for a walk. I know a shop nearby that does amazing doughnuts." She flipped three gold coins onto the bed. "You're buying."

"Sure, why not."

As Lee scooped up his coins and shucked off the blanket, she saw his bared torso. "Scars all over and muscles too. Clearly, you are hardcore. I approve. Come on, hurry it, those doughnuts ain't gonna eat themselves."

* * *

><p>Lee found out during the walk to the doughnut shops that the erstwhile beggar woman was named Jee, but prefered the nickname Apple. He also found out she was interested in hiring him for a job. That was all he found out, though the walk took ten minutes and he didn't stop asking questions the entire time.<p>

* * *

><p>The shop was small and filled to capacity when Apple and Lee arrived, so she ordered thirty doughnuts to go and said there was a park nearby where they could have a picnic.<p>

"Thirty? _Thirty_?"

"You get a better deal if you buy in bulk. Plus, they're small. Plus, I'm hungry."

The park itself was large, spacious, and almost deserted. Trees were interspersed so that you could see any part of the park from the center. Lee assumed that's why she had brought them there. There was no place for anyone to hide. She sat on the dark green grass and motioned him to do likewise.

"Right," she said, munching on a small doughnut. "So. There's this whole situation I got going right now, and I think you're the kind of guy I need to wrap it up."

"Stop. Backtrack. Let us, instead, focus on your little performance last night."

She giggled. "What about it?"

"The why's and the how's, and then we can get into what happens next."

She gulped down the sticky roll and helped herself to another. "My job requires me to know everything that happens in the Earth Kingdom. Obviously, that's impossible, but I make an honest effort and I usually hear about stuff that happens, as it happens."

"And what is your job, exactly?" _Spy, perhaps?_

"Hard to explain. Let me go off for a while, things will get clearer. So. I heard about the fracas down in New Doujak- some outlander assassin was stirring up trouble for the gangs, the yakuza, the Dai Li, blah di blah di blah. My contact in the yakuza updated me a few nights ago, saying they'd finally managed to drive you out of town. At that point, I wasn't giving you a second thought, you were just... like... part of the background. I was tracking ice fishing on the north coast and the repairs of Ba Sing Se's walls with about as much interest."

"Flattering."

"You're welcome. And for crying out loud, have a doughnut. I _can_ eat them all by myself, but I wouldn't want to."

He ate one. It was pretty good.

"So at that point, the case I was working got a little sticky. Hit a dead end. I found myself in need of a hired hand to help me finish it."

"Me?"

"You. But of course, I wasn't tracking you. Not till you came in yesterday."

Lee thought it through for a moment. "The guards I bribed. They were on your payroll."

"You're on the right track." Apple nodded her approval. "The guard captain they give their cut to owes me a favor, so I found out that a rich young ruffian was coming into town. A couple talks with various merchants told me that you were wandering Omashu like a tourist, gaping at the great big buildings."

"So then, you whipped up a sourdough baby and decided to... this is where I'm getting confused."

Apple giggled again. Lee smiled as well. Her laughter was infectious. "What can I say. I really, really like fooling people. I wanted to make absolutely sure you were Lee, or Shade, or whatever you call yourself. I needed to make sure you were the one who turned New Doujak upside down."

"And you found this out how?"

She started ticking off her fingers. "Crept up behind you and startled you. Saw how your hand went for the knife. Saw how your feet went into a good stance. Saw the bulge in your pockets, figured you had a lot of money on your person. Through your admirable generousity, saw you had enough gold to pass it out like copper. My contact was pretty sure that Lee left town with a pot of gold."

"Telling, but it wasn't conclusive evidence."

She shrugged cheerfully. "Well, there are a limited number of mercenaries in the area with that much gold. It was a relatively safe bet. And man, what happened to all the doughnuts?"

"Have you checked your belly?"

"Huh." She sniffed. "Well, they were great while they lasted. So. Upon finding out you were a thug with a heart of gold, I spent the whole night coming up with a plan to use you."

"The whole night? You haven't slept since I saw you?"

"Nah. Sleep is for the weak. I couldn't rest, this close to finding her."

Lee started to feel like his mind was a gate being slammed into by a battering ram. Apple's method of explaining things was exhausting. "Finding who?"

Apple dug into a pocket in her vest and brought out a folded sheet of parchment. She handed it to Lee.

"Lee, meet Mahli. She's six years old, and she misses her mommy and daddy a lot. She last saw them three weeks ago, right before her uncle kidnapped her and brought her here to Omashu."

Lee looked at the picture. It was an ink drawing of a little girl with pigtails reaching down to her waist, dressed in fine robes. She was beaming, her smile so wide that her eyes seemed squinted shut.

Apple studied his face closely, looking for reactions. "Her father hired me to find her again. I did. I ran the uncle down to a house one level up. And there, I ran into my dead end. The uncle's friends have her held pretty tight. I'm no commando; I can't sneak her out, and if I get caught then she's probably toast."

"But Shade can do it," Lee said. "Shade the Blade can walk through walls."

"Precisely." She eyed him carefully.

He nodded to himself, studying the picture. "How much are you offering?"

"Nothing."

He jerked his gaze up to meet hers. "Are you serious?"

"Rarely." She laughed. "Got you again. The father is offering a thousand gold piece reward. Split it with you, right down the middle."

Lee shifted into a more comfortable position and stuck his hand out to her. "Shake on it."

Apple spat into her palm and seized his hand before he could react. Lee felt the sticky saliva press into his skin and pool inside their palms. He tried to draw his hand away but she held on tight.

"Why the _hell_ would you do that?" he asked.

"What, you never did that as a kid?"

"_No_."

"Oh. I did."

"I can tell you're going to be all kinds of fun. Just tell me where to show up, and where to bring the kid when I got her."

She got to her feet. "We'll meet tonight to plan this out. Planning is the most vital part of any operation, you know. I'll knock on your door at sunset. You go out and get anything you need- rope, chloroform, camouflage paint, whatever, I don't know. I'll be cruising the town setting things up. Tomorrow night, we'll go in."

He stood up. "Alright. Sunset planning session. I'll be back by then."

"Wonderful. See you then."

She strolled away, whistling to herself.

Lee stared at her as she departed. He shook his head, as though to clear the cobwebs out of it, then started back towards the ring of markets to see if he could find anything of use.


	9. Observing and Dancing

Apple exhaled slow and long, puffing her cheeks out. "Sorta hard to explain my job, Lee."

"Dumb it down as necessary. I want to know who this weirdass girl I've teamed up with is."

Apple's gaze wandered across the throng of dancers, stunning in the silks, satin and finery. Each was a piece of art, lovingly crafted by a painter who used dyed cloth and jewels in place of paint and canvas. Any one of them would have stole the scene at any party, but when seen en masse, shifting and writhing rhythmically to the most popular dances in the Earth Kingdom, they were a vast and intricate tribute human skill and creativity.

Lee disliked them all in a low key, indifferent kind of way.

Apple had said they were meeting in this club because only rich young men and women trying to get laid frequented the place- no one who was playing the great game (as she put it) would stake out the place. Lee thought she just liked watching the dances.

"Let me tell you about my teacher, that should give you an idea of what you're dealing with here. He was a professor at the University at Ba Sing Se, and I wanted to join his class on natural history. Guess what he did."

"He conned you out of three gold pieces by pretending to have a starving infant."

She blew a raspberry as she flipped him off. "No, what he did was, he gave me a dead fish, and he asked me, 'What do you observe?' "

Lee rolled his fingers forward. _Okay, go on._

"So I said it's a dead fish. He shook his head and told me, 'Study the fish.' And then he went off for an hour and left me alone with the fish. So I study the damn fish, and when he comes back, he says, 'What do you observe?' I tell him that the fish is starting to stink, that it's probably rotting on the inside, that one of its eyes is kinda scratched up. He shakes his head and tells me, 'Study the fish.' And he goes off somewhere again."

"Is there a point to this story?"

"Yes. Shush. So I spend the next three hours pouring over this stupid fish. I grew to know that fish better than my reflection in the mirror. And when he comes back, he asks me, 'What do you observe?' I tell him that it has exactly 539 scales, three gills on each side. I tell him that it's a foot and a quarter long, and each fin is four and a half inches long, and that it has 48 teeth in three rows."

"And he... shakes his head and says to study the fish."

She winked. "You catch on quick. Yep. That crazy old man went off again. By now, night's fallen, and I haven't eaten since breakfast, and I'm supposed to go back home to tell my parents whether I was accepted or not. But he hasn't told me if I made it, and he didn't tell me when he'd be back. So I work on that fish all night long. Dusk to dawn. I borrow a few anatomy textbooks and a scalpel from the lab and I dissect that fish. I draw sketches by candlelight and make sure I can identify each organ both by sight and by my own drawings. When he comes to check in on me the next morning, he says, drumroll please, 'What do you observe?' I spent fifteen or twenty minutes bringing him up to speed with all my findings. The unusual placement of various fishy organs; the texture of the scales and how it was different at the head than at the tail; differences between what the book says and what's actually in the fish; the bits of smaller fish in the stomach; blah di blah di blah. And he asks me would I would look at next if he told me to study the fish again. And I tell him about how the liver and intestines were discolored, and how I had been planning on investigating the cause of that next. He said that I was in the class for sure. He said that learning anything required us to _see_ before we _interpret_."

Lee stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Interesting story. How does this apply to your job?"

"It is the cornerstone of my job." Apple snapped her fingers and pointed out a member of the crowd. "That guy. There. Leaning on the pillar, blue hat."

Lee peered. "What about him?"

"What do you see? What do you observe?"

Lee frowned. "Er. I see a guy in a blue hat looking a bit uncomfortable."

"And?"

"And... he's young, and sorta handsome, and leaning on a wooden pillar."

Apple shook her head. "Look at the hem. Filthy, isn't it? It's been dragging in the dirt, but right now it's two inches above the ground. And the sleeves are slightly short- it's obviously not tailored to _him. _That robe was made for for someone shorter. And the purple at top of his robe is more faded than at the bottom- crappy dye that runs. That shade of blue in the hat was extremely popular... three years ago. Standing alone next to the only pillar in the room, looking nervous. Conclusion: that guy's wearing borrowed robes of lesser quality, doesn't know fashion and has no friends with him, yet decided to go out to a night club anyway. Standing next to an identifiable landmark, likely to be meeting someone. If he had to borrow someone's old clothes to look dashing, he's either aiming to impress someone or trying to blend in. Since he's obviously not trying to blend in at all... Odds are a girl he likes agreed to meet him here, and she didn't show. Hence the nervousness because she hasn't shown up and he's stranded amongst the actual nobility and feeling too insecure to function."

She leaned back. "Pow! That's how you observe."

Lee closed his mouth carefully and thought it over. "There's no way you could actually know all that. You were guessing and phrasing it to sound good."

"There _was_ some guessing involved, yes. Maybe he's rich and sophisticated and wearing horribly unfashionable clothing because he lost a bet. Maybe he's waiting for his brother, not his date. Maybe he looks nervous because he owes the yakuza money and has to find it by tomorrow. I haven't collected enough data to confirm it to my usual standards. But I take the most likely answers and see if they all fit together, and when they do..." She shrugged expansively.

"And you do this professionally, or something? Is there good money to be made in reading people?"

Apple snorted in derision. "Hell, no! But when you read people all the time, and do a bit of legwork to confirm your results, you get good at it. And once you've trained yourself to _observe_ as well as look, you start seeing patterns you can use. So when people have problems that look unsolvable, I step in and I solve them. I investigate, but I _detect_ things that no one else does."

"Or, alternatively, you make up facts off the top of your head to impress the gullible-"

Lee cut his words off when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Blue Hat push off the wall. He followed the young man's gaze and saw a beautiful girl float across the dance floor. She was a marvel, a jewel among jewels, in a kimono of deep crimson and only the lightest touch of makeup gracing her eyelids and cheeks. She could not have been older than 16, youth and innocence brightening her face. Other couples shifted out of her way, their eyes following her as she left a trail of sighs and wistful smiles in her wake.

When she saw Blue Hat, she rushed as fast as her kimono would let her to hug him fiercely, with all the joy and excitement that youth in love could bring to bear. His smile lit up his face, and the room.

Lee's jaw dropped. "Holy shit."

Apple smirked as she flagged down a waiter. "Pot of tea, please. We'll be here for a while."

"Holy _shit_."

* * *

><p>"Alright," Apple said. "This plan of mine has an 80% chance of working if we both do our parts perfectly. Unless it rains tonight, then it drops to 76%"<p>

"Are you just making these numbers up to sound impressive?" Lee sipped his tea. It was about twice as sweet as it needed to be. He made a mental note to not let Apple order for him again.

She guffawed. "Yes. Seriously though, the odds are in our favor."

"Hit me."

Three months ago, Mahli Dei Wong was sitting for a family portrait. Her father dropped her off at the painter's house with a family servant to watch her. At the fourth sitting, when her mother had come to pick them up, she had found the painter slumped against the wall, concussed and unresponsive. The servant and the girl were nowhere to be found. The day after, the ransom note came through.

Apple pretended to spit to one side at this point. "Amateurs as they are, they immediately assumed that the servant was the kidnapper and set a big enough bounty on his head to set every bounty hunter in the city after him. Only one of whom found squat." She pointed at herself with both thumbs.

"What did the note demand?"

"Ten thousand golds at a drop off point in one of the slum districts, within three weeks. That was two and a half weeks ago, so we're in a time crunch, especially since it'll take twice that long for the Dei Wongs to liquidate that much coin."

"Okay. But it wasn't the servant, then? You mentioned that it was the uncle. Or was the uncle the servant?"

Apple slurped her sugary tea with relish. "The servant was in on it, but he wasn't behind it. I found the servant last week. With a second smile about three inches below the chin."

"Huh."

She leaned forward. "I found out that the kid's uncle- a sleazeball named Wang Tsu- owed about 3,000 golds to each of the three major bookies in town. Behold, we have motive. I found out that the servant was secretly Wang Tsu's bastard son; Mahli's father hired him as a favor to his screw-up brother. Behold, we have means. And finally, Wang Tsu rented out an apartment not far from the designated drop off point just two days after Mahli's portrait sessions began. Behold, we have opportunity. The triangle of crime has been filled in."

Lee held up one finger and arched his eyebrows questioningly. "So, why did the bastard get his throat cut?"

She shrugged. "Guesses only. Maybe he was greedy, wanting a bigger slice of the pie. Maybe he was having an attack of conscious and needed a jolly good silencing. Maybe he slipped and fell neck first onto a bread knife. I don't know, I don't care, he's not a factor anymore."

Lee breathed in and out deeply. With every detail the situation was getting more and more solid, more dangerous, more exciting. What was it the old Waterbender, Drah, had said? Once you went into battle, your soul stayed there. His soul was sharpening itself in anticipation of this fight.

"Alright," he said. He could almost hear a ringing in his ears as adrenaline flooded his blood. "So you know the apartment address, and hired yourself a commando. Have you cased the joint yet?"

She smiled at him with genuine good humor. "Thoroughly. I staked the place out, with no less than four different disguises over 72 hours. I know the guys that Wang Tsu hired for the job, and I know every entrance and exitway."

She took out a folded sheet of parchment from one vest pocket and called the server for ink and quill. "Here, let me show you."

* * *

><p>Later on, after she drew sketches of the apartment's layout and described the two guards, she asked him if he wanted to dance.<p>

Lee stared blankly. "What?"

Apple shrugged self-consciously. "A dance. It's almost midnight, and the musicians are hitting their second wind. Don't you want to, you know, get up and dance? To celebrate?"

"Celebrate?"

"Come on, we're getting rich by doing good deeds! Normal people have to choose one or the other."

Lee shook his head. "No. I mean, I don't dance. Ever."

Apple waved a too casual hand in the air. "Yeah, I don't dance either. I was just checking to see if you did."

The natural pause in the conversation was extended by one awkward beat.

"Plus we're underdressed for this place anyway," Lee said It was true. They were the shabbiest people in the building- Lee in his only outfit, which had seen him through several brawls in the last week, and Apple in her dull yet practical grey vest and trousers. "We'd look ridiculous out there with all those peacocks upstaging us," he finished.

She grunted. "So, that's a no go for dancing. Wise decision. I'm glad I picked a partner with common sense."

Lee leaned his chin on his fist and took in the dance hall again. It was still filled to the brim with giddy, rich little nobles- though they were all young, some were older then Lee- and would likely stay that way till well into the early morning.

"Then again," Lee said, "I can tell just by looking that I don't like any of these arrogant brats. And they'd be pissed if a ruffian like me took to the dance floor. It might be worth the humiliation of dancing just to ruin their night out."

Apple grinned wide and giggled. "Then let's spoil some fun!"

They arose as one and went to the center of the dance floor.

* * *

><p>"Wow," she said afterwards.<p>

"I know," Lee said. "I've never met bouncers that polite before."

"When you said you don't dance, I _knew_ you were bluffing."

" 'Excuse me, sir, my manager respectfully requests your honored presence.' "

"I never would have thought you were going to be bouncing off the walls like rubber ball, though."

"I've never been so flattered in my life. I felt like a king, getting kicked out of there."

"The minute long handstand jig while hopping around the room was pretty neat too."

"One of them saw the knife sheath on my hip as they were dragging me out, and he didn't even boot me in the crotch. Have you ever heard of such a thing in your life?"

"We made one hell of an impression tonight," Apple said with satisfaction.

"My favorite bit was when you started kick and punch at me in time with the strings while I dodged in time with the flutes," Lee said. "It was like some kind of improvised kata set to music."

"Every eye in the room was on you and me, kid," she said. Something in her voice made Lee glance sideways at her as they strode down the darkened street. She was smiling at him warmly, while looking him right in the eye without blinking.

He smiled back on instinct. "We clearly need to go dancing more often."


	10. Murder Mysteries

The apartment complex was, in a word, sprawling. It covered a square city block and the northern section ran uphill, requiring a certain amount of ingenuity on the part of the architect. It was four stories tall, though the northern half towered above the southern.

Each room had the same dimensions, and same basic setup; the only variations came from how each occupant arranged the furniture. This came in handy for reconaissance.

* * *

><p>"It's in the interior of the complex- room 225, to be exact," Apple had said. "There aren't any windows, so there's only one way in or out- the front door."<p>

"So I'm supposed to sneak in... through the front door."

Apple winced. "Yeah."

Lee shook his head. They were trying to talk in lowered voices, but the music forced them to speak up louder than he was comfortable with. He just _knew _that soon, they'd be shouting to be heard and then the music would stop and every noble in the room would hear him bellow something like "So after we take her, do I kill them or what?"

Lee sighed and sipped his tea, politely refraining from gagging on the sweetness. "Can't be done. I can't sneak in through the front door. That's not how it works."

"Come on!"

"Sneaking isn't magic, Apple. I can't avoid being seen and heard just by crouching down and activating my stealth powers. Sneaking means coming from unexpected directions with good camouflage and no noise. I can't break through a door that someone's watching and expect not to be spotted."

Apple glared at the table and mouthed a curse word to herself. "So we're sunk, that's what you're saying? I don't accept that. Where there's a will there's a way."

Lee smirked. "You got the will?"

"Absodamnlutely."

"Then there's a way."

"How?" She leaned forward. The candlelight glinted off of her hair as it fell to frame her face.

"I told you. Shade the Blade can walk through walls."

* * *

><p>Lee strode through the apartment complex like he was the landlord and it was time to pay the rent. He was undoubtedly seen, but he walked with such confidence that it was obvious he was supposed to be there. He wouldn't even be remembered afterward.<p>

The hallways were long and wide, expertly constructed by Earthbenders. The grey stone walls had been smoothed and polished till they felt like diamonds. Some enterprising soul had studded brightly colored rocks into the walls for decoration- nothing valuable, but the stones gave a pleasant glow to the hallways. Feeling how cold the rock walls were to the touch, Lee shuddered to think of how cold it would get in here come winter.

He stopped in front room 227 and knocked on the door.

* * *

><p>"Now, I'm not sure how to broach this subject..." Apple said.<p>

"Go on."

"I would like to pull of this operation _without_ going on a murder spree."

Lee frowned and placed his teacup delicately on the light green tablecloth. "What exactly are you implying?"

"Well, you have a reputation, you know."

"Oh?"

"I just want the Mahli back in one piece. Vengeance against the kidnappers isn't part of the contract. If you have the lass, scamper, is all I'm saying. Don't stay there and try to soak the walls in blood."

"You don't know me as well as you think you do, you know," Lee said. "I'll get in there and get the girl. Any casualties that come will be in self-defense. Cross my heart and hope to live."

"Okay." She hesitated a moment, before blurting out, "But don't, like, deliberately be put in a position to _have to _defend yourself-"

"Yes! Yes! I get it!"

* * *

><p>The occupant of room 227 opened the door. He was a middle aged man with thinning hair, dressed in a blue robe that was tied closed with a ragged piece of rope. His build suggested that his job inolved a lot of manual labor.<p>

Lee took out a small purse from his pocket and emptied it on the floor inside the apartment. Thirty gold pieces slid out and and bounced across the ashy grey rug.

The laborer gaped liked a fish and stared at Lee, uncomprehending.

"I need your apartment for the next hour," Lee told him. "Go out. Go somewhere. Spend a bit of your windfall."

"What?"

"Your apartment," Lee said. "I just rented it for an hour. Piss off out of _my_ apartment."

"But... what?"

Lee clenched a fist. "I can either rent your apartment," he said with enforced calmness, "or beat you senseless and use it anyway. Now, _get_."

The laborer got down on his knees and scooped up all the coins, leaving one eye on Lee. It was more money than he'd make in a three years. He slid around Lee on his way out. Judging from the blank look in his eyes, Lee suspected that he still wasn't tracking what was going on.

"By the by," Lee said. "I wouldn't mention this to anyone if I were you. You may understand why not in the morning. "

The man stumbled down the hall, alternating his gaze between looking back at the madmen who had just kicked him out of his own home, and the fortune he was holding in his hands.

Lee closed the door.

"Just think," he muttered to himself as he set the bar across the doorframe. "A week or two ago I'd have just stabbed him."

He quickly examined with the layout to ensure that it was the same as the other apartments that Apple had cased. Then he went to the wall that room 227 shared with room 225 and prepared himself.

Lee had not used Firebending in earnest since the Moki Lang five months ago, but the old forms and techniques had been drilled into him since childhood. After shoving a big leather couch away from the wall, he knelt down on the laborer's stained rug and meditated, focusing his chi, refamiliarizing himself with his art.

Once he felt himself ready, he extended his index finger. A furiously bright white fire jetted out from his fingertip about half a foot. It was brittle, thin rock that formed the walls. It had never been designed to withstand Firebending. If he moved the couch back into position after he left, the owner would probably never notice.

And if he did, so what?

* * *

><p>"Who's the opposition?" Lee asked.<p>

"Apart from Wang Tsu, who is unskilled at any martial art... there are two of them."

"Hit me!" Lee said boisterously.

"They will, if you don't keep your guard up. The first is a guy by the name of Yuko the Strangler. Tall, thin, shaved head, you can't miss him. He's a grappler, mainly. He prefers to maintain distance until he can seize a limb or make a rush, at which point the both of you are going to the floor."

Lee nodded absently. "At which point I'm in his territory. Does he use any wepons?"

Apple sipped her tea and made a face. She added three spoons of sugar and tried again. In the background, the music shifted to a faster pace as the giddy dancers glided across the floor.

Apple put her cup on the table and shook her head. "There's a rumor that he garroted a man a few years back, but that was a special occasion. He does his work by hand. Chokes, bone breaks, that sort of things."

Lee stroked the hilt of his Tiger Tooth and nodded. "The other?"

"Windwalker Jin. Medium height, long hair, slightly ugly."

"Is there a single mercenary in this city without a stupid little nickname?"

Apple rolled her eyes. "The donkey is calling the horse 'Long-Ears' again, _Shade the Blade_."

"Okay, I walked into that one. Carry on. Windwalker Jin?"

"An acrobat in a traveling show, or at least he used to be. His troupe got caught between the lines at Yagaki. Three days of unrelenting slaughter, and he was stuck in the middle of it."

"Mm. I knew a guy who was there."

"Well, he made it through, but his acting buddies didn't. After that, he went on by himself and made a living in the ring, fighting for cash. He's quick, he's agile, and he's a practioner of some bizarre martial art called _capoeira _that was inspired by Airbending."

Lee coughed up some tea. "He's a bloody Airbender?"

"No. You have to pay attention. He's trained... in a martial art... _inspired_... by Airbending. The southern Earth Kingdom used to intermingle with the Air Nomads way back when. There can't be more than a dozen people who know it these days, but he's one of them, and by all accounts he's good at it." She stared out wistfully at the polite hordes of young bravos and ladies on the dance floor. "With _capoeira_, you'll see a lot of kicks coming from unexpected angles. Jin's going to look like he's dancing, except every third step could fracture your skull."

"Okay. I got it. Three valid targets on the objective area, two serious threats."

* * *

><p>The resulting hole started at floor level, and was three feet wide and two high. Just wide enough to crawl through. If Lee could make it, so could Mali.<p>

There was no audible reaction from 225. Lee took this to mean that his entry point was undetected.

He took a deep breath, released it. Air came in through the nose and left through the mouth. He kept the rhythym up until his body was relaxed and calm. He unsheathed the Tiger Tooth and flipped it so he was holding it in a reverse grip, then got down on his belly and starting crawling.

The apartment was dark. No candles burning. Lee spent a full minute pondering why Wang Tsu and his minions would choose to stay in the dark- it only an hour after twilight, far too early for a nighthawk degenerate like the uncle to go to bed. And wouldn't the guards pulling security want light while they were up?

His time fighting guerillas had imprinted the night for ceaseless security in all directions. He had automatically assumed that they were taking eight hour shifts while the other two slept and ate, but it never occurred to him that no one in particular was watching the door.

In any case, he waited until his eyes adjusted to the darkness before making a move.

His hole in the wall was bringing in light. He turned around and reached back through to tug the heavy couch into place to block as much ambient light as possible.

He lay on the floor near his llittle hole and waited, and watched.

Silence. As far as he could tell, the place was empty.

Slowly, feeling his heart pound and hearing his own pulse, he stood up into a crouch, knife held with the hilt to his sternum and the point out. Anyone who rushed him would get a sharp surprise whether Lee saw them coming or not.

Nothing. No one was in the room, and no one was walking around in the sections of the apartment that he couldn't see.

_I was expecting to have stabbed someone by now, _he thought wryly.

Either there was someone there, or not. If there wasn't, then he might as well search the apartment for clues. If there was, they surely weren't coming to him. One way or another, playing the waiting game was pointless.

He walked slowly and deliberately, setting his heels down lightly and easing onto the ball of his feet, to maintain balance and stealth. His breathing was regular, and every muscle in his body was relaxed and loose.

* * *

><p>Apple was sketching furiously on a piece of parchment. Lee craned his head to the side, trying to follow along.<p>

"This is the main living room," she said, spinning the paper around so Lee cold see better. "This is one possible spot where Mali might be, but I doubt it."

"Too unsecure," Lee agreed. Judging by the rough diagram Apple had made, the living room had a line of sight out into the hall every time the door opened. If they opened the door and someone happened to be passing by...

"If I had to bet money, I'd put it on one of these two bedrooms." She tapped the diagram for emphasis.

"Makes sense to me."

Lee scanned the parchment, burning it into his memory.

* * *

><p>First bedroom door. Closed. Someone sleeping?<p>

Lee checked to make sure that the door opened into the bedroom, then pressed an ear against the chipped, darkened wood. He didn't know what he was listening for, but he was pretty sure any sound at all would be significant.

Nothing inside. Nothing audible, anyway.

He lifted the latch carefully and opened the door, prepared to stabbed anybody who was awake.

Only fire-forged discipline kept him from gasping aloud.

A man was hanging from the wall next to the bed- Wang Tsu, judging from Apple's description of him. He was dressed only in a dirty blue bathrobe that reached down to his shins, while the sleeves couldn't reach his wrists.

The man's face and torso were as white as pearls, but his hands and feet were a deep purple bordering on black. Lee knew that the blood drained down to the extremities after death. The smell wasn't too bad- the room was cold and decomposition hadn't set in yet.

Around his throat, clamping him to the wall, was a clenched fist made of rock.

Dai Li. They were the only Earthbenders Lee knew of that had that particular flair. He remembered with distinct unease when hands of flint had pinned him down back in New Doujak.

Why in the hell would Ba Sing Se intelligence assassinate a no account kidnapper? Was it connected with Mali, or did Wang Tsu piss them off separately? And where the hell was Mali?

With a sudden shot of fear, Lee realized that he had been staring at the hanged man for too long. Half convinced that the Strangler or the Windwalker was behind him, he spun around wildly.

Nothing. He spat on the rug and leaned up against the door frame. He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. For moment there, he had tensed up. That was a dangerous habit to form.

He doubted now whether his targets or his objective was here. Clearly, the situation was more complicated than Apple had thought. _Or, more complicated than she admitted_, a soft, cunning voice suggested.

He shook his head to clear it. One way or another, there was one more room to check, and then he could go and link up with Apple and try another plan.

The second bedroom had a pile of gold and silver covering the dull white bedsheets.

Lee gaped, speechless. He did a quick estimate. The gold alone was thrice what he took out of New Doujak, and that was still ignoring the silver.

_You could buy your own damn city for that much_, he thought numbly.

His mind whirled, trying to make the evidence make sense. Instead of a little girl, there was her kidnapper's corpse. Instead of two mercenary hardcases, there was a treasure cache. Why did Wang Tsu die? For that matter, why did the servant with the second smile die? Apple hadn't thought it important, but maybe the bastard had died for the same reasons his father had. How were the Dai Li involved? Whose money _was_ this, what did they do to earn it, and why weren't they here to keep an eye on it?

He thought he could hear his teeth grinding. He had never dealt with frustration well.

While he stood in the doorway trying to work out his mysteries, he heard the scrape of metal on metal. He turned just as the front door opened. A tall, thin man was silhouetted in the hall.

Lee couldn't tell if the man could see him or not, but he decided not to take chances.

* * *

><p>"Any questions?" Apple asked.<p>

Lee shook his head. "Nope. Seems straight forward enough. However please bear in mind that, in regards to your prohibition, if I do get into a fight... I don't intend on holding back. I refuse to get my dumb ass killed because I'm trying to go easy on the other guy."

"Yeah, I understand."

"Great. As long as it's all up front and in the open."

"It is indeed. Incidentally..."

"Yeah?"

"As long as we're changing the subject, do you want to dance?"

* * *

><p>AN: This one was more of a plot advancer than anything. Next chapter has the action scenes.


	11. Burnout

A/N: My unit is fixing to deploy me, so updates are not to be expected for a while.

* * *

><p>The Strangler had him dead to rights: the taller man had Lee from behind, long sinewy arms wrapped tight around his abdomen, heels hooked into the crotch, head tucked into his shoulder. Lee thrashed awkwardly, twisting and jerking, but Yuko knew his craft like no other. Panic mounted in Lee's guts as he realized that there was no escape.<p>

He had been so damn cocky when the fight started. Emerging from the dark room with knife raised, he had thought to end the fight instantly, slashing at the silhuette's throat immediately. Yuko had jerked back at the last second, and the Tiger Tooth had merely sliced the taller man along the jawline. Lee had kept his momentum as he charged in, but gave only two more quick, ineffective cuts before Yuko the Strangler grabbed a wrist and tugged himself into Lee's personal space. Once that happened, it was just a matter of time before the fight hit the floor.

Lee tried to grab one of the fingers that linked together on his chest, but Yuko had them all tucked in tightly. He tried throwing his head back to break his opponent's nose, but Yuko's head was lowered too far. He tried to reach a forearm with his mouth to bite his way free, but couldn't bend that far. He tried to shift the heels digging into his thighs with brute arm strength, but Yuko's feet were well embedded.

He grunted a stream of feral curses as each ploy failed him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind a detached, bitter voice was saying, _This isn't right. I'm Shenzi. I'm the killer ghost in the darkness. I'm not supposed to lose. This isn't how it goes._

Without any warning, the arms that were clinched across his chest melted away. Before Lee could process this development, a hand pressed his head to the side, exposing his throat for another powerful arm to snake across his windpipe. With the crook of his elbow across Lee's throat and a hand on the back of his head, Yuko the Strangler decided to live up to his name.

Lee sensed rather than felt his opponent's elbows close in to touch each other, and his breathing cut off.

He panicked.

* * *

><p><em>The sky was aflame, raining fire, driving the darkness away in strings of orange and yellow. The heat washed across his face as each missile struck the ground. Crystallizing dirt and gouts of flame were flung skyward.<em>

_Hsu was on the ground not 30 yards from him, curled up in the fetal position. The skin on his arm was burned clear to the bone, and the sounds that were torn from Hsu's mouth would never have been thought human_.

* * *

><p>Lee couldn't move, couldn't fight. He couldn't tap out or escape. He couldn't even scream. His face started hurting from the blood backing up in it, and he was strangely aware that he must be turning red, though it was impossible to see this in the dark.<p>

* * *

><p><em>He had to keep attacking, otherwise he would die. The Earth Kingdom soldier's green tunic was shredded by a score of slashes and stained with blood. Each pause between the cuts and thrusts scared him. The corpse was ragged and shifted sickeningly with each blow, but Shenzi knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would tear his throat out unless he kept stabbing at it.<em>

_A splash of blood hit him directly in the eye, and he almost broke down and started crying then and there. But he couldn't afford to stop- not until the corpse was dead._

* * *

><p>Bright white fire covered Lee's hands, swirling across the palms and flapping up onto the backs of his hands like company banners in high winds. He grabbed Yuko's arm with them and <em>burned<em>.

And when Yuko screamed and tore his maimed arm away, Lee twisted around like a mongoose and planted a burning hand directly into the pit of the stomach. He felt his palm sink a few inches through the flesh.

Yuko skittered across the floor, screaming in agony. Lee rolled to his feet, extinguished his fire, and dived for his knife. His mind seemed to be hollering at him as though he had forgotten something absolutely vital, but he put his mind on hold until he could kill the Strangler.

His fingers, now extinguished, curled around Tiger Tooth's hilt. He swept across the dark living area, sensing but ignoring the familiar odor of burnt human. He jabbed the knife into Yuko's neck. Blood splashed up into Lee's face.

* * *

><p><em>Think<em>, he told himself. _Calm down and think._

_I can't, _he answered. Lee heard the response in his mind as a pitiful child's voice. _I can't, there's something wrong and I can't fix it-_

Thick blood slid down his cheek, stopping briefly at his jawline before dropping into his lap. He felt it attached to his eyelashes. He was sitting down on the rugs of the darkened room, hugging his knees and shaking. There was a burned, bloody body in front of him, and a knife next to him on the floor. Behind him in another room was a body hanging off of the wall, like some grisly hunting trophy.

_I'm disoriented, that's all. Lots of stuff happened, and I'm still processing it. Soon, I'll be on my feet and solving problems again._

But instead he stayed on the floor, blood and tears streaking his face.

_Something's wrong. You need to start thinking again, and soon. There's something wrong, and something bad will happen if you don't fix it._

_What? _he asked himself plaintively. _Oh. The body is burned. Burned. By Firebending. I used Firebending, and I shouldn't have. Oh, shit._

He surged to his feet uncertainly. He had no solution, but he knew that he should get the front door to the apartment closed before doing anything else. Anyone could have heard the screams that Yuko made while he died. Lee stumbled down to his knees as he slammed the door shut. He leaned up against the door and started crying.

* * *

><p>Lee had always enjoyed fighting. The stakes had never affected his genuine enthusiasm. His sparring matches with Hsu and the battles with the Earthbenders on the front lines had been equally invigorating. There was something about fighting that elevated him. It wasn't the violence he enjoyed- he derived no special pleasure by inflicting pain. It was winning he loved. Overpowering and outsmarting an opponent who was trying to do the same thing to him was his drug of choice.<p>

There was nothing as glorious as beating someone who was trying to beat you.

This had been the first fight that Lee had not, on some level, enjoyed at all. Even on the Moki Lang, he had maintained a feral, animal pleasure in stalking his hunters and in overcoming the man with ropes on his arms.

Lee hated being a burnout. He loathed himself for his weakness, and he resented Yuko for making him feel this way. He might have slashed Yuko's body to ribbons out of sheer petulance, but he was smart enough to realized that he would feel even worse if he did.

* * *

><p><em>Think. Think. You have got to think, guy.<em>

Solution one: Escape the consequences. Grab the cash and split. To hell with Apple and Mahli and the job and this wondrous, murderous town. He had arrived with a knife and a bag of gold, and he was out nothing if he left the same way.

This struck him as being wise. It also struck him as unacceptable. He was no longer one hundred percent certain what the job was anymore, but he didn't want to leave before he solved it. And leaving Apple...

Solution two: Hide the evidence. If there's no body with burns on it, no one would suspect a Firebender.

_Much better_, he thought. _See? You can still think._

How to ditch the stiff, though? There was a nice, deep, uninhabited canyon surrounding the city walls. It could be decades before anyone found a body thrown down there. But how to get Yuko through the city unnoticed? He couldn't exactly drag it around. And it was a long walk to the city walls...

Lee spat bitterly and shook the tears off his cheeks. The canyon might as well be on the dark side of the moon for all the good it would do him.

He then remembered the riddle that his old Jumpmaster had once posed to him. Kazuo had been stressing the importance of camouflage during Jump school. He had asked the class, "Where is the best place to hide a grain of sand?" The answer, of course, is the beach. Even if someone knew to look for it, it would be identical to its environment.

If literally everything in the apartment was burned in an accidental fire, a burned body wouldn't be at all suspicious.

Lee grabbed one of the paper lanterns off the wall and spilled its oil over the floor and walls.

Threads of fire began to stream rhythmically from his nostrils as he started to hyperventilate uncontrollably.

* * *

><p>Two hours later, he arrived at the rendezvous point. It was a tea shop in the lower class entertainment district, called the Pale Lily. No one of affluence would deign to step through the roughly carved wooden doors. Its primary clientele was the Earthbenders who manned the delivery system. It was open twenty four hours a day, so as to avail itself to each shift as they got off, so there'd be enough of a crowd that two conspirators could link up without standing out.<p>

Lee walked in the double doors gripping Tiger Tooth, expecting an ambush at any moment. All he knew of the job came from Apple. Little that he knew of the job was true. Therefore, it may well be that Apple was playing him. It sure as hell wouldn't be the first time she had.

He had considered not even showing up, but there remained the possibility that she was on the level and merely misinformed. In that case, he felt himself honor bound to stick with her and find Mahli.

* * *

><p>"Where is she?" Apple demanded. The voice- crisp, stern, worried. Every note rang true. She had reallyexpected him to have the kid.<p>

Of course, he knew first hand how much a convincing tone of voice meant.

"Wasn't there."

"_What do you mean?_"

"She wasn't there. The apartment was child free."

"Impossible," Apple hissed. Then her face went slack. Her eyes drifted up to the ceiling as she began talking to herself. "No. Nothing impossible. Merely improbable. Initial conclusions clearly flawed. Where did I go wrong? Can't say. All information indicates Mahli's presence in apartment. Either the data is insufficient or incomplete. You. Lee. Talk. Give me more to work with." Her gaze lowered till she was staring him in the eye.

Lee gaped. "Uh. Well, I breached through the wall as planned..." He described how Wang Tsu met his end, and the pile of gold and silver.

She sucked in a deep breath and held it, closing her eyes. "Dai Li."

"That's my read on it."

"Dai Li complicate _everything_. Assumption, to be proved or disproved: the Dai Li are behind Mahli's kidnapping, for reason of their own."

"What about the money? How does that figure in to it?"

"No way to know. Presumably, if the Dai Li were running this op, the cash flowed from them to the operators."

Apple drummed her fingertips loudly on the table top. "I can't stand being blind," she declared. "I'll need to see the apartment for myself. I might see something you didn't."

"You probably would have," Lee agreed. "Except now all you'd see is... charred ashes."

"_What!_"

"Yuko showed up as I was leaving the room. We fought and..."

"And _what!"_

"Well, I won. But we sorta knocked over the lantern and scorched the whole bloody room."

Apple snarled, "Unbelievable. You singlehandedly erased all evidence on the scene. Well _done_."

He shrugged. "Self defense."

"Did you catch that? 'Well done'? It was a play on words. Because you burned all my clues the same way that a chef might burn a steak. You... you clumsy, dumbass mercenary!"

"Yes, I am a mercenary. You hired me to do a job and I did it. I'm ever so god damned sorry that things didn't work out, but it wasn't my fault."

"In what possible way is this _not_ your fault?"

Lee glared. "You gave me really bad intel. You told me Mahli would be there, and she wasn't! How about you bust my balls _after_ you figure where she really is?"

Apple sank back in her chair and rubbed her forehead. "Alright. Fair play. Our operation failed. I bitched you out, and you bitched me out. Are we still determined to find the girl?"

"I'm still onboard. What's the next move?" _That was quick,_ he thought.

Apple frowned thoughtfully. "If the Dai Li are up to something, then Lord Fo Ran is our best bet to find out what. He's the senior intelligence officer of Omashu, answers only to Mad King Bumi. If nothing else, he can get us in contact with an actual Dai Li agent."

"Alright. Sounds good." Would she be acting this way if she was double crossing him? He doubted it. Lee knew she was a fantastic liar, but everything sounded convincing. He wasn't sure if the fact that she sounded honest was a point in her favor or not.


End file.
